Every Champions League match, the same tweet. The official man of the match photo always includes a strange smartphone, with lots of cameras on the back, which makes the public wonder. It is in fact a partnership.
“But what is this crazy phone”. With his tweet published on April 11the account of the influencer Arkunir and fell into the trap of Oppo, one of the main sponsors of the Champions League since 2022. The Chinese brand, which no longer sells smartphones in France since it abruptly ended his activities in 2023, had a brilliant idea to get people talking: an obligatory selfie for the man of the match.
At the end of each match, the best player must take a photo of themselves with their trophy, with an Oppo Find X7 Pro (its latest high-end smartphone). A second version of the photo is then published on social networks, in which we see the player taking this famous selfie. Result: The Internet panics and wonders what brand of phone the player is.
No, it’s not Griezmann’s smartphone
For obvious reasons, football players don’t walk around the pitch with their smartphones. Since the photo must be published quickly on social networks, it also makes sense that UEFA, which organizes the Champions League, provides the device. Griezmann, Mbappé, Kane, Bellingham, De Bruyne and Rafinha… All the stars crowned “man of the match” this season photographed themselves with the same device: the famous Oppo smartphone. The UEFA communications team brings it to them, takes a photo with it and leaves.
Most of the time, UEFA only publishes selfies taken by players. From time to time, the shot where we see the phone is also used. This is undoubtedly one of the conditions of its partnership with Oppo, which requires a little buzz thanks to its expensive sponsorship.
Furthermore, some have made the link between this photo and the former partnership between Huawei and Antoine Griezmann. The footballer interrupted his partnership with the Chinese brand in 2020, following a scandal over the fate of the Uighurs. Oppo and Huawei are two distinct brands and Antoine Griezmann does not have a partnership with a smartphone manufacturer today.
As is often the case in high-level sport, you have to be wary of appearances. Partnerships are where you don’t expect them, precisely to capture the public’s attention. It is not because the Oppo smartphone is not visible in all the photos that it is not part of a well-crafted device, with the aim of getting people talking about the brand. That’s good: Oppo is currently preparing its return to France, a few months after separating from all of its teams.
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