The Bayern Munich and Poland striker, Robert Lewandowski has terminated his sponsorship agreement with the Chinese technology company, Huawei, following their reported continued technical assistance to the Russian army in cyber-attack defence.
After agreeing to a partnership in November 2015, Lewandowski agreed to become Huawei’s global ambassador. It is estimated that cancelling the sponsorship deal will cost him around 5 million euros.
The company said in a statement, “Huawei CBG Polska regrets the end of the partnership with Robert Lewandowski. We appreciate our long-term cooperation and wish him every success in the future.”
Lewandowski’s agent Tomasz Zawislak also mentioned that the decision was made by the footballer rather than the Chinese technology company. He said, “It is true. Today we decided to end the marketing cooperation between Robert Lewandowski and the Huawei brand. Therefore, the implementation of all promotional services has been suspended on our part.”
Lewandowski had been a vocal critic of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, and he had celebrated the cancellation of their World Cup fixture with Russia, which was scheduled to take place in March. The match was called off after Russia was banned by FIFA and UEFA.
Lewandowski had tweeted when Poland announced their boycott of the game, “It is the right decision! I can’t imagine playing a match with the Russian National Team in a situation when armed aggression in Ukraine continues. Russian footballers and fans are not responsible for this, but we can’t pretend that nothing is happening.”
Russia also has been stripped of the right to host this season’s UEFA Champions League final, which was scheduled to be played in Zenit St Petersburg. The final will now be held at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France.