Cristiano Ronaldo’s removal of two Coca-Cola bottles during a press conference at the Euros has coincided with a $4bn fall in the share price of the drinks giant, reports The Guardian.
The Portugal captain is a renowned health fanatic and made it clear what he thinks of the carbonated soft drink.
The 36-year old shifted the bottles of Coca-Cola away from him during a press conference in Budapest Monday in the prelude to his country’s Group F game against Hungary.
Ronaldo followed it by holding up bottle of water before declaring in Portuguese: “Agua!”, appearing to encourage people to choose that instead.
Coca-Cola is one of the official sponsors of Euro 2020.
The company’s share price dropped from $56.10 to $55.22 almost immediately after Ronaldo’s gesture, a 1.6% dip.
The market value of Coca-Cola went from $242bn to $238bn – a drop of $4bn.
A Euros spokesperson said: “Players are offered water, alongside Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, on arrival at our press conferences.” Everyone “is entitled to their drink preferences”.
Ronaldo is a pop culture colossus, boasting nearly 300m Instagram followers.
Tuesday, he scored twice in Portugal’s 3-0 win over Hungary – moving beyond France great Michel Platini as the record goalscorer at the European Championship finals with 11.
