Cristiano Ronaldo’s Coca-Cola bottle snub ‘cost them $4BN in stock market slump’ in hours after megastar’s press conference drama

Football megaster Cristiano Ronaldo's high-profile removal of a pair of Coca-Cola bottles out of camera shot in a press conference has reportedly cost the soft drinks giants a $4 billion fall in its share price.

The Juventus star's snub came before he broke several records on Wednesday in defending champions Portugal's 3-0 win over Hungary in Budapest.

The first goal of a late brace saw the 36-year-old surpass Michel Platini's European Championship goal haul of nine by improving his tally to 11 and become the first player to appear and score in five editions of the tournament.

Yet before kick-off, his exploits in the press conference made a far bigger global impact.

Sitting behind of a pair of coke bottles alongside his team's manager, Fernando Santos, Ronaldo grimaced at the items before moving them out of camera shot.

He then took a bottle of water, pronouncing its Portuguese name "agua", and muttered "Coca-Cola" to himself disgusted, with the action coming at a great cost to the Atlanta-based drinks giant.

One of the main sponsors of the tournament, which is being held in various cities across Europe, Coca-Cola's share prices dropped down to $55.22 from $56.10 immediately after Ronaldo's move, representing a 1.6% dip.

In total, its market value plummeted from $242 billion to $238 billion to signify a drop of $4 billion.

"Players are offered water, alongside Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, on arrival at our press conferences," remarked a Euro 2020 spokesman of the development, noting that everyone "is entitled to their drink preferences".

Until now, Coca-Cola is yet to respond to widespread requests for comments.

But with devout Muslim Paul Pogba moving a bottle of non-alcoholic beer out of his way following France's 1-0 win over Germany, there is talk that major companies may now be rethinking their strategies behind sponsoring major football tournaments. 

Elsewhere, a member of security at the Puskas Arena in Budapest has tickled fans online after footage emerged of him collaring a masked Ronaldo and asking to see his pass.

"Excuse me, sir, who are you?" some joked he was saying, while one viewer commented: "And that was the last time the man worked for UEFA."