Egypt goalie Mohamed El-Shenawy's performance against Uruguay in Friday's match "earned him the coveted Man of the Match award," but he "refused to accept the award -- which is sponsored by Budweiser -- because he is Muslim," according to Liz Roscher of YAHOO SPORTS. El Shenawy "politely" turned down the award, while the person tasked with giving it to him stood there "awkwardly." Since his religion "forbids the consumption of alcohol, he elected not to accept the award because it was sponsored" by the beer brand (YAHOO SPORTS, 6/16). The AP reported Egypt Team Dir Ihab Leheta said that El-Shenawy said a "few words" and posed for photos in a brief ceremony, but did not "take the goblet." Leheta added that there was "no policy or set of regulations for members of the all-Muslim squad regarding their dealings with sponsors or prizes linked to alcohol" (AP, 6/17). In Washington, DC, Des Bieler reported the Man of the Match trophy is designed as a tall, red goblet with the word "Bud" emblazoned on it in large letters. Some Muslim players are "among the biggest individual stars" in the World Cup, including Germany's Mesut Özil and France's Paul Pogba, and it "remains to be seen how they might choose to deal with being awarded a Man of the Match trophy, should they receive the honor" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/18).
SPECIAL EDITION: THE DRUM's Danielle Long reported Budweiser China "released a collection of limited-edition World Cup beer bottles as part of the brand’s global sponsorship campaign." Budweiser launched eight unique bottle designs featuring the national colors of some of China's favorite football teams, "including England, Russia, Germany, France, Portugal, Argentina, Spain and Brazil." The collectible bottles, which were created by brand design agency Jones Knowles Ritchie Shanghai, "will be available across 200,000 touch points" in 25 cities in China and will be featured in TV, OOH and in-store marketing activity (THE DRUM, 6/18).
'TWO LITTLE FEET': THE DRUM's Taruka Srivastav reported Kia Motors unveiled its official match ball carriers for the World Cup through a digital music video. The video, titled "Two Little Feet," features Karnataka's Rishi Tej (age 10) and Tamil Nadu's Nathania John K. (age 11), "who emerged as the lucky winners of the Kia OMBC program" (THE DRUM, 6/18).
