FRANCE superstar Paul Pogba has entered Euro 2020’s battle of the bottles - by removing a Heineken from the table in front of him at a post-match press conference.
Pogba, a practising Muslim, picked the official sponsor’s beer and placed it out-of-shot as he sat down to address reporters in Munich after being named man of the match in France's 1-0 ‘Group of Death’ opening victory over Germany.
First Ronaldo with the Coca-Cola...
— Goal (@goal) June 16, 2021
Now Paul Pogba wasn't happy with the Heineken in front of him at his press conference 🍺❌ pic.twitter.com/SU1ifQPGOP
Alcohol is considered ‘haram’ in Islamic faith, although the bottle the Man Utd midfielder plucked from view was apparently alcohol-free.
The snub came a day after Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo moved aside Coca-Cola bottles in a similar set-up in Budapest.
Ronaldo, sitting beside manager Fernando Santos ahead of his team's match against Hungary, irritably set aside two bottles of the soda, then picked up a bottle of water and appeared to encourage drinking that instead - saying "Água!"
“@official_EMMYJ: Coca-Cola loses $4 billion as Ronaldo removes its bottles and endorses water.
— GIDITRAFFIC (@Gidi_Traffic) June 16, 2021
Coca-Cola’s share price dropped from $56.10 to $55.22 almost immediately after the incident, a 1.6% dip. Their market value went from $242bn to $238bn – a drop of $4bn. @Gidi_Traffic pic.twitter.com/B7PBowhly9
The intervention coincided with shares in Coke falling on Wall Street, wiping $4billion off the value of its US parent company.
Coca-Cola's shares were trading around $56.17 when Wall Street opened on Monday, but fell sharply at one point wiping around $4bn from its $242 billion market cap in line with the Dow Jones.
A Euro 2020 spokesperson added: "Players are offered water, alongside Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, on arrival at our press conference."
It said “everyone is entitled to their drink preferences” and have differing “tastes and needs.”
Ronaldo follows a fitness routine that includes eating six meals and taking five naps a day and has told of his irritation of his son Cristiano Jr’s taste for Coke.
