Ronaldinho’s £500,000 can of cola

Ronaldinho’s fondness for pepsi has cost the Brazilian football legend a sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola worth £500,000 a year.

Ronaldinho stunned Coke chiefs by turning up at a press conference and sipping nonchalantly from a can of their arch-rivals’ fizzy pop.

Furious bosses at the Atlanta-based firm immediately demanded that the plug be pulled on his huge endorsement deal, according to a report in the ‘O Estado de Sao Paulo’ newspaper.

It’s just the latest blow for the 32-year-old, twice a winner of the FIFA World Player of the Year award, who has struggled to shine since he left AC Milan two years ago to finish his career in his homeland.

“The fact that the player has appeared with a can of Pepsi was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Coca Cola marketing chief Marcelo Pontes told the paper. “The sponsorship had become embarrassing.”