23.9.08

DING TO KEEP CONTROVERSIAL SPONSOR

Ding Junhui, China's top snooker player, has said he will continue to promote a controversial milk company despite its links to a scandal in which thousands of babies have become seriously ill.

This is entirely his prerogative but may not go down too well with all of his fans back home.

Full story here.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think even in China they have 'spin doctors' - so who has advised Ding this is a good idea. The Chinese government?

Anonymous said...

As you say, it's entirely his choice - though I don't necessarily agree with it at all - so long as it doesn't affect his performance on the table.

He's got a tough job on his hands just to remain in the top 16 given his current (lack of) form.

Anonymous said...

The article made it sound like it's entirely his sponsor's fault, but after reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_baby_milk_scandal I don't think it's big of a deal, espically since now the problem is revealed.

Anonymous said...

No big deal? 4 babies died and 53000 were sickened with possibly damaged kidneys?

Now I'm not sure Ding had much choice actually, if any. He may have been "strongly" advised to keep a low profile on this. China isn't exactly the land of freedom...

Anonymous said...

Come on Monique, it´s no big deal
compared to all the snookerplayers
who stood by King Tobacco!
That,s real damage!

Kimball

Anonymous said...

The milk that caused the death and sickened are likely from another company then Ding's sponsor

stuartfanning said...

He's obviously getting very bad advice on this. It's highly likely that executives connected with this firm will face criminal charges. The Chinese Government initially tried to hush the matter up and downplay its seriousness, but events forced them to take appropriate action. Ding was probably given this advice at an early stage of the scandal.