Shakib sets a different trend!
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has set the rare trend of gaining more endorsements while serving a ban.
Last year, a renowned company suspended their association with Indian cricketer Hardik Pandya after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended the all-rounder following misogynistic comments about women on a television show. What they believed was that such comments did not reflect the values of their company.
A shameful attempt to cheat in South Africa cost Steve Smith and David Warner huge sponsorship deals after they were handed 12-month bans over the ball-tampering scandal.
Golf icon Tiger Woods also lost a plethora of endorsements after a 2009 sex scandal while the world’s leading companies suspended endorsement deals with Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova after she admitted to failing a drug test at the Australian Open in 2016.
Likewise, England all-rounder Ben Stokes lost lucrative contracts following a brawl at a Bristol nightclub, with one company commenting that such behaviour did not match their brand’s culture and values.
Such examples abound because it is believed that such incidents go against the spirit of sport and any involvement with any disgraced athlete has an effect on the image of a company’s brand.
Shakib, however, has been enjoying a different experience in this regard as he has signed a number of deals with major companies since the International Cricket Council (ICC) banned Bangladesh’s Test and T20I captain from all cricket for two years, with one year of that suspended, after he accepted three charges of breaching the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code.
Shakib’s latest was a contract extension with Lifebuoy that he signed during a programme at The Daily Star premises yesterday.
Curious reporters wanted to know about the recipe to his signing one deal after another while serving a ban and the 32-year-old only increased the curiosity by saying: “You have to try to find out the reason behind that.”
However, only a good research can unearth the reason!