Nike Drops Sponsorship Of Jailed English Soccer Player
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| Nike Severs Ties With Barton |
Nike has ended its sponsorship deal with English Premier League club Newcastle United MF Joey Barton, who "recently completed a jail term for assault," according to Darren Davidson of BRAND REPUBLIC. Nike made the decision to sever ties with Barton, whose two-year contract with the company was "believed to have been worth [US$75,159] a year, when he was imprisoned for assault in May." Nike U.K. PR Manager Leo Sandino-Taylor said, "While Joey Barton is a talented footballer, we cannot condone or accept what he did and his contract has been terminated." Barton recently served 74 days of a six-month jail sentence after a December '07 fight in which Barton "punched one man 20 times and left a teenage boy with broken teeth." Davidson writes Nike's "tough stance contrasts with Newcastle United's treatment" of Barton, as the team has "reportedly decided against enforcing him to take a cut on his" US$112,813 per week salary (BRANDREPUBLIC.com, 7/30). In London, Rob Stewart reports Nike "felt that Barton ... had damaged their reputation." Sandino-Taylor: "We have provisions in all our sponsorship contracts to take into account any actions by athletes that bring the brand into disrepute" (London TELEGRAPH, 7/30).
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