Cristiano Ronaldo and athlete activism: Where do you draw the line?

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring a goal in the June 15, 2021, Euro 2020 match against Hungary at the Ferenc Puskas stadium in Budapest. (Bernadett Szabo/Pool via AP)

An absolute beast on the football pitch, Cristiano Ronaldo (CR7) turned wish granter to some stock market bears on June 14, 2021. The global superstar’s pawing at two Coca-Cola bottles at a press conference in Budapest wiped off $4 billion from the company’s market value.

And as the cola giant’s valuation came tumbling down, CR7 saw his stock rise.

“Ronaldo is a true Hero! Other celebrities should learn from what he did,” wrote one social media user. “Great gesture by the fittest human being in the world #Ronaldo to keep Coke away,” commented another.

Ronaldo’s move is going to push a host of sports organisers like FIFA, International Olympic Committee and the likes to look more closely at the fit of the sponsors they take on board

- Lloyd Mathias, former marketing head of PepsiCo India.

In the case of Ronaldo—he makes $50 million annually through brand endorsements, based largely on his on-field exploits and a carefully crafted off-field persona—it is hard to imagine that his de-endorsement of Coca-Cola at a continental event was merely an impulsive act. If there’s one sportsman who most likely understands the importance of work away from the stadium in selling products and brands befitting his lifestyle, it would be Ronaldo.

“It may very well have been a well-calculated move. He is 35 years of age, He is in the twilight of his career, maybe he’s thinking of life ahead,” says Sukhvinder Singh, former director of marketing at the All Indian Football Federation and ex-marketing manager at Nike. “This was well thought out even before he came in, I feel. I’m sure Ronaldo of 10-15 years ago would have never done this.”

Probably what’s led to the raising of eyebrows is the manner in which Ronaldo shunned the bottles. It wasn’t just him disassociating himself from a brand, but seemed like a rejection in favour of another product — ‘aqua’, in this case.

“I respect the rights of players to stand up for issues and values that they feel strongly about. But I wish they did it more discreetly. Right now, he (Ronaldo) showed total contempt and disgust which I thought was a little over the top,” says Lloyd Mathias, former marketing head at HP, Asia-PAC and PepsiCo India.

Compare that to what Paul Pogba did a few hours after Ronaldo, at another Euro presser. The French superstar, a practicing Muslim, quietly put aside a bottle on the table in front of him, to avoid being pictured in the same photo as the beer brand. There are Indian examples, too. Virat Kohli took a conscious decision not to renew his contract with Pepsi, but did it very discreetly. Ditto for Pullela Gopichand, who refused Cola sponsorship without publicly denouncing the brand.

Whatever the ways and means of Ronaldo, there are no obvious reasons to doubt his intentions. He has been vocal about staying away from aerated drinks even before the Euro incident became the talk of the town. And this wasn’t the first time he was taking a moral stand. Earlier this year, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner, reportedly declined a lucrative deal from the Saudi Arabian Tourism board worth $7 million after human rights controversies in the nation.

If you take a deep, and a macro look at the list of brands Ronaldo has or continues to endorse, there emerges a contradiction. The Portuguese star has sold junk food on TV (read KFC). He has ‘JEEP’ written on his jersey whilst playing for his club Juventus—the impact of automobiles on our environment is well documented. He is a lifelong Nike brand ambassador, a company often accused of running sweatshops in China and other developing countries. And, Singh observes, “It’s also the same Ronaldo who wears a Portugal training kit which has Sagres (a beer brand) on it. He also endorses automobile brands and we know automobiles aren’t great for the planet.”

Ronaldo (front) and team manager Fernando Santos during the Euro 2020 press conference at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary on June 14, 2021. (Image: UEFA/Handout via Reuters)

Of course, an individual needn’t be averse to all things or habits in equal measure. You could be a crusader for child rights and yet be guilty of abusing the environment; fight for gender equality but never have given animal cruelty a thought. That said, an athlete’s snubbing of a tournament sponsor that pays millions for supporting a sport/tournament, in full public view, is bound to have repercussions on the sporting landscape as a whole.

“Who do you think will bear the brunt of Coke’s value falling- it’s going to be football,” says Singh. “Out of that $4 billion, there would have been a percentage of money that goes into supporting grassroots and lower division football tournaments—that’s the first thing they’ll cut back on, you see!”

So is athlete activism leading to the shrinking of sports sponsorship and revenue landscape?

Not too long back, cigarette brands were commonplace, now they are taboo. Tobacco in any form is no-go at tournaments. Alcohol is gradually becoming bad news. Junk food brands are to be avoided. And in a few years, petroleum may become a sticky subject, who knows. Whatever might happen in the future, for now, Ronaldo’s message is bound to act as a catalyst across boardrooms that deal in sports.

“Ronaldo’s move is going to push a host of sports organisers like FIFA, International Olympic Committee and the likes to look more closely at the fit of the sponsors they take on board,” says Mathias. “They will have to realise that the world has turned more woke, especially the younger generation is very conscious about the choices they make, and so organisers will have to be sensitive to the kind of brands they bring on board going forward.”

As marketers try and get future-ready, attempting to find a balance between large corporate deals and their players’ conscience, the new-age athlete may also need to realign his/her expectations. Because in an increasingly money-driven football market, there seems to be a direct correlation between how successful a team is with how deep their pockets are. Clubs vie with each other to secure the signatures of the best talents available, and in trying to outbid each other, run the risk of large debts. Ronaldo himself commands a salary of $35 million a year at Juventus, a club that reports losses in excess of $100 million annually, and is reported to be on the verge of bankruptcy.

Also read: Here is how Fevicol turned Ronaldo's Coca-Cola controversy into a creative social media campaign