Cristiano Ronaldo’s Fitness Data Release by WHOOP Sparks Controversy Amid Euro 2024 Tournament

It was a tough knockout game for Portugal against Slovenia, as the score remained 0-0 even after extra time. Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak was in superb form in front of goal, making six saves in the match. However, he could not continue his momentum in the penalty shootout as he couldn’t save the Portugal players’ strike. Whereas, Portuguese keeper Diogo Costa saved Slovenia’s first three penalties in the shoot-out.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, Ronaldo, is now working with the fitness company WHOOP, which has released data from wearable devices monitoring his heart rate, athletic performance, and sleep. It was revealed that Ronaldo “entered a flow state and dropped his heart rate” when he stepped up first for Portugal in the shootout. His heart rate then spiked to 180 bpm when Bernardo Silva scored the decisive penalty.

Ricardo Fort, the former head of global sponsorship at Visa and Coca-Cola, claims that Ronaldo has violated UEFA rules. He posted on social media, “Cristiano and WHOOP are engaging in ambush marketing at Euro 2024. It is illegal, and both the player and the company should be fined.”

Fort added, “The post mentions a UEFA match, uses the names of the two national teams playing, the score, and a player on the field. They are implying an association with the event, which is illegal. Not having ‘a competitor as a sponsor’ isn’t a reason to tolerate these infringements.”

If the data had been collected during home workouts, there would be no issue. UEFA has taken action against “ambush marketing” in the past. For instance, former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner was fined £80,000 and given a one-game ban for revealing Paddy Power-branded underpants after scoring for Denmark at Euro 2012.