Cristiano Ronaldo removes Coca Cola bottles at PC, Coca Cola loses $4 billion

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo removed Coca-Cola bottles placed in front of him at a European Championships press conference here, which reportedly cost the global beverage giant a staggering USD 4 billion. A well-known fitness enthusiast, Ronaldo set aside two Coca-Cola glass bottles which lay in front of him during a press conference ahead of Portugal's opening Euro match against Hungary here on Monday.

As unbelievable as it may sound, the star footballer's act of pushing aside Coke bottles at a pre-match press conference and advising to instead 'drink water' has resulted in a whopping dip of $4 billion in the company's market value. Besides the fall in the market value, Coca Cola's stock price dropped 1.6 per cent, down from $56.10 to $55.22 within hours of the episode. The market value of the popular beverage brand dipped $4 billion from $242 to $238 billion.

Meanwhile, Portugal, the defending champion, defeated Hungary in the Group F opener of Euro 2020 under the captainship of Ronaldo. The 36-year-old footballer scored two goals in Portugal's 3-0 win over Hungary in Budapest on Tuesday night.

Aradhana Maurya