After the Portugal captain asked people to drink water and snub Coca-Cola right at the beginning of his team's press conference ahead of the Hungary match in Euro 2020, the act was bound to have its implications.

The move saw Coca-Cola’s share price drop from $56.10 to $55.22. The beverage company has responded to the Ronaldo incident, saying “everyone is entitled to their drink preferences”. This saw the market value of the brand going down from $242bn to $238bn (a drop of $4bn).

Paul Pogba, a devout Muslim, didn't seem pleased with a Heineken bottle placed in front of him at the press conference and followed Ronaldo’s footsteps to remove it from the camera frame. He was also seen snubbing the competition’s sponsor after he removed a bottle of Heineken beer from his press conference.


Even though the bottle placed on the table was actually an alcohol-free version of the popular beer brand, the 28-year-old was less peeved but saw fit to remove the bottle as it clashes with his beliefs as a Muslim. It’s also true that these footballers endorse products and realise the market response of these actions.

This begs us to question whether sponsors who shell out millions of dollars for these events would be pleased by such actions as they’re hurting their revenues instead of increasing their popularity and sales. Should the players practice discretion and mention it to the organisers if they want a particular product not to be placed in the same camera frame as them?