Cristiano
Ronaldo, you either love or hate him. It is a famous name within the football
world of today, because he is one of the greatest footballers of our time – a
five time Ballon d’Or winner and he holds multiple records for the most
official goals scored in the top five European leagues.
An incredible career, of which most
footballers would only dream of, just got surprised of accusation of a rape
claim by American model Kathryn Mayorga. Back in June 2009, when Ronaldo made
his transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid (the highest amount ever
paid for a transfer, € 80 million) he was enjoying himself at the Palms Casino
Resort Hotel in Las Vegas together with the American model.
Kathryn
Mayorga claims that Ronaldo invited her to his suite at the Palm Casino at the
end of the party. Ronaldo offered Kathryn other clothes so they could go
together in the Jacuzzi, but in the meantime she was changing, Ronaldo walked
in naked. He asked her to perform a sex act. Kathryan refused to perform a sex
act, Ronaldo did not accept this and pulled her in the bathroom and raped her.
Ronaldo told her afterwards that he is a “good guy” expect for that “one per
cent”.
Ms Mayorga signed a contract that Ronaldo agreed to pay
her £287,000 to stop her pursuing criminal charges. The football star could
have seen him jailed for life.
Ronaldo denies any accusations against him and he explains himself
though a tweet on Twitter.
So what are the consequences of these
“accusements” for the sports brand Nike? Nike has a lifetime deal (worth of $ 1
billion) with the famous soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo?
Image your own multinational sports company in
which one of your own athletes is accused of rape…..how would you respond in
this situation? Do you want your brand to affiliated with such a serious claim?
Gudjon Bjarkason
ReplyDeleteWell Ronaldo is with out a doubt one of the biggest influencer in sports as he has for example the title as the person with the most followers on instagram. As this accusation is very serious and could lead him to miss his sponsors. But the sponsors cant just jump and rift his contract right away when accusations like these come across because the fact that he raped the girl has not been established but if it comes to that that a judge decide or a investigation has been done they can not do that. So the sponsors just have to wait and see.
Yes I totally agree with you that his sponsers cannot simply cut the contract with him. However it's still not good for the brand to be associated with this claim. Personally I hope that they can solve the matter quick so that he can continue to perform on the pitch.
DeleteOgilvy has once faced the similar problem. James Harden had a promotion event in Taiwan. But before the events, a cheating scandal has been reported. It did stir a backlash. But what did Oglivy does is emphasize his accomplishment in sports field. Although he disappointed some of his fans, there are still fans only care about his performance in basketball game.
ReplyDeleteBack to Ronaldo case, there are still lots of his followers only care about his performance in the game. They still follow his social media. The most important thing is that the truth is unknown. So if I was Nike I will emphasize his sports performance and wait for the result.
I agree with your argument, because this is also more fair to him. He has so many fans who want to see him perform on the field. His actions of a couple years back, will be investigated, however I don't think that the truth will come out.
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