Cristiano Ronaldo moving Coca-Cola bottles during a press conference, then Paul Pogba doing the same with a beer bottle have caused jokes and a whole controversy around the relationship between UEFA, sponsors and players.
By moving Coca-Cola bottles and saying: “Water, not Coca-Cola” before his post-match press conference, the Portuguese footballer triggered a controversy… which had repercussions even on Wall Street.
Just a few hours after Cristiano Ronaldo’s gesture of disdain for Coke, Paul Pogba pushed aside a bottle of Heineken beer placed in front of him.
These two gestures have been widely misused. The first to refer to it was the Russian coach Stanislav Cherchesov, opening one of the two bottles of Coca-Cola in front of him, he then took a sip, smiling, visibly pleased with himself and his effect. The Scotsman John McGinn was amused by the absence of soft drinks on the table for his press conference: “No Coke?” he said with a smile. Manuel Locatelli first put a bottle of cold water in front of him, before spreading the two Coca-Colas, in a nod to Ronaldo’s gesture.
Problem: Heineken and Coca-Cola are partners of the Euro and the gesture of Cristiano Ronaldo may have partly contributed to the decline of the soda manufacturer’s stock at the opening of the New York Stock Exchange where the share lost more than 1 dollar (from 56.18 dollars to 55.24 dollars).
For Heineken, on the other hand, the French player’s gesture had the opposite effect: the stock of the Dutch brewing giant’s brand went up by 1.35%.
The director of the Euro admitted that Cristiano Ronaldo’s gesture was the more embarrassing of the two for UEFA, but reminded that the partnerships are an integral part of the tournament and ensure the development of soccer across Europe.
To date, neither brand has officially reacted.
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