UEFA has asked players to stop removing sponsor drinks at press conferences during Euro 2020 in a trend that started since Cristiano Ronaldo swapped water for Coca-Cola earlier this week.
Several other stars from various countries including France’s Paul Pogba and Italy’s Manuel Locatelli have joined the bandwagon in removing sponsored drinks from the view of cameras when speaking to the media.
Martin Kallen, the tournament director at Euro 2020 is quoted by Sky Sports saying that 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,” Kallen added.
Kallen also highlighted in a briefing that players with religious objections “don’t need to have a bottle there” despite tournament rules stating that these products are shown as a promise to sponsors.
This is relevant in the case of Pogba, who is Muslim and doesn’t drink alcohol, who removed a Heineken bottle, even though this beer in particular was marketed as alcohol-free.