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Marketing and Sponsorship

Player Protests Chinese Basketball Association Sneaker Ban By Walking Off Court

The furor over the Chinese Basketball Association's decision to force players "to wear sneakers by the league's official sponsor went up a notch on Wednesday as Yi Jianlian stormed off the court in protest," according to the GBTIMES. Yi started for Guangdong Dongguan Bank against Shenzhen Leopard and "wore the league's official sneaker maker, Li-Ning, before taking them off and throwing them on the court." Prevented by technical officials from entering the court wearing his sponsor Nike's sneakers, the 29-year-old reportedly "went straight to the locker room." Some form of compromise "appeared to have been reached in the third quarter however as Yi returned, playing the rest of the game wearing his Nike shoes" (GBTIMES, 11/3). SHANGHAIIST's Alex Linder wrote after the game, the CBA "suspended Yi for one game and fined his team, the Guangdong Southern Tigers," 50,000 RMB ($7,400) for the incident. The punishment "was administered because of an official apparel deal that the CBA has with Chinese sportswear giant Li-Ning, which mandates that all domestic players wear Li-Ning branded jerseys, socks and shoes." Last season, he "was allowed to play games wearing Nike sneakers, this season that special privilege has been revoked" as the CBA's 2B RMB ($300M) deal with Li-Ning is set to expire at the end of this season (SHANGHAIIST, 11/4).

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