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Manu Tuilagi’s ‘genuine error’ highlights need to safeguard athletes’ personal sponsorships

Sponsorship | Sport

The latest in a string of controversies for the England Rugby Team highlights the potential pitfalls for personal sponsorships on the international sporting field and the importance for athletes to deploy careful management for sponsorships.

The £5,000 fine that England centre Manu Tuilagi has received for contravening the International Rugby Board's strict advertising and sponsorship rules by wearing a branded mouthguard in England’s game against Georgia may well have been unintentional but it brings to a light the harsh fallouts from suspected acts of ambush marketing at international sporting events.

The fact his brother Alesana made the same mistake last week only adds to the newsworthiness of the incident which is another negative for the England Rugby Team as they gear up to play the French in their quarter final on Saturday.

Athletes have a duty to uphold the sponsorship regulations when on event to ensure they themselves don’t get embroiled in ambush attempts. When athletes are fully focussed on performance, as in the case of Tuilagi, mistakes can happen, but it should be the responsibility of the athlete’s personal management to prevent issues from coming to light.

Personal sponsorships are hard enough to come by for athletes, so high-profile stories like this one can negate the many inherent positives that personal sponsorships can bring for both brands and athletes alike.

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