French judo star Teddy Riner announced his candidacy for the French presidential election on Monday, November 9, catching his corporate sponsors and commercial representatives entirely by surprise, rtl.fr reported.
The 37-year-old five-time Olympic champion holds at least ten active endorsement contracts. Brands signed agreements with the athlete for his broad popularity in France rather than a political candidate positioned outside traditional party lines.
One major sponsor held an emergency crisis meeting at 6 a.m. on Tuesday following the announcement. The company subsequently emailed all employees to address the unexpected political shift.
“Our brand is attached to its principle of neutrality,” the internal company email stated, according to rtl.fr. “We had no knowledge of Teddy Riner’s decision.”
The message included approved talking points for workers to use if questioned by other partners. Employees received strict instructions to ignore inquiries from journalists.
Riner’s official Instagram profile features numerous commercial partnerships. His active sponsors include supplement brand Bion3, financial institution Saxo Bank, fitness chains Neoness and Keepcool, apparel brand Fight Art, luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet, supermarket giant Carrefour, snack brand KoRo, and the Moroccan tourism office.
Past endorsement deals included contracts with Decathlon, Crédit Agricole, and Renault. Advertisers whose contracts recently expressed relief at the timing, with one representative telling rtl.fr that the expiration “suits us.”
“I was not in the loop,” Ludovic Dumas, Nineteen Sports Group, the agency handling the judoka’s image commercialization, told Sport Business Club on Monday, rtl.fr reported. “Since then, my phone has been buzzing and ringing with messages: I have received a few questions from brands in particular.”
Dumas noted that existing commercial contracts lack specific exit clauses covering political engagement or presidential campaigns. However, agreements prohibit any brand activations from linking directly to his political campaign.
Article L.52-8 of the French Electoral Code bans private corporate funding for political campaigns. “Moral entities, with the exception of political parties or groupings, may not participate in the financing of a candidate’s electoral campaign,” the code states, forbidding both direct donations and discounted goods or services.
Sponsor revenue generated by Riner cannot be redirected to fund his political ambitions. If elected president, French constitutional law allows him to retain private professional contracts, as the role is exempt from the general ban on private employment that applies to government ministers under Article 23 of the Constitution.
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