For three days at least, the internet is populated with memes and parodies around ‘Ronaldo removing Coca-Cola bottles’. The renowned sportsman, Cristiano Ronaldo at a UEFA Euro 2020 press conference recently, removed a couple of Coca-Cola bottles that were kept in front of him. At the same time, Ronaldo also grabbed a water bottle and raised it above – reflecting his preference of drinking water over Coca-Cola.
The top goal scorer in Euro history, Ronaldo is known for his contempt towards carbonated beverages like that of Coca-Cola. According to media reports, the Coca-Cola company lost $4 billion in valuation due to Ronaldo’s move of removing Coca-Cola bottles from the podium.
Many other players took forward the gesture as a trend by removing bottles of sponsors. Italy’s Manuel Locatelli removed Coca-Cola bottles, while France’s footballer Paul Pogba removed a Heineken beer bottle during his press conference.
On the other hand, Russian coach Cherchesov picked up the cola bottle and took a sip at the press conference. And Ukraine captain Andriy Yarmolenko moved both Coca-Cola and beer bottles closer, asking the sponsors to get in touch with him.
Gareth Southgate of England too refused to join the trend of removing sponsors’ bottles and opined that without the investment of the sponsors, it is difficult for the sport to function and the consumption of beverages in moderation can rarely cause a problem,
“Well, I think there are lots of sponsors in sport and the impact of their money at all levels helps sport to function,” Said Southgate
“Particularly grassroots sport in our country requires a lot of investment and without some of those companies investing then very difficult to provide the facilities that we need,”
“And I think with anything, of course we’re mindful of, in our country, obesity and health, but everything can be done in moderation and I think anything that you take part in or partake in in moderation is rarely a problem.” Southgate added
With contempt to Ronaldo’s lead of removing sponsors bottles, UEFA (union of european football associations) asked players across 24 teams to stop removing sponsors’ bottles.
Martin Kallen, Euro 2020 tournament director said UEFA has communicated with the teams regarding this matter.
“It is important because the revenues of the sponsors are important for the tournament and for European football,”
Ronaldo’s stance of removing Coca Cola bottles didn’t stop there as it took over social media instantly and the internet like wildfire. Many people especially from India started making memes and parody videos depicting Ronaldo’s press conference video.
A parody video depicting Bollywood actress Amrita Rao got more attention,
ⓘ LAFFAZ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Users are required to read and abide by our Terms & Conditions.
Ronaldo did what he thought was right for him and for an athlete. He didn’t want to lie that he consumes that but his actions also had consequences cause those are the people sponsoring the sports and indirectly paying him.