This article was originally published on May 31st, 2019.
Here is this week's dose of “5-Point Friday”. A weekly round-up of the sports news and stories that I find most interesting and enjoyable.
Soccer story I have been following -
South Korea Under-18s have been stripped of a trophy for "indecent" celebrations after a player posed for a photo with his foot on it. South Korea beat China 3-0 to win the Panda Cup on Wednesday, but the team was forced to apologize after they were criticized online for the "unforgivable" images. The topic had 59 million views on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform. The tournament organizers suggested South Korea would not be invited back.
Sports marketing story I am interested in -
NBC Universal has teamed up with Lacoste as the first advertiser for the media company’s new Shoppable TV feature. The program will debut at the French Open live tennis match of Lacoste brand ambassador Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) this weekend.
Here’s how it works:
NBC Sports will issue “shoppable moment” alerts on-screen during Djokovic’s French Open matches.
Viewers will hold their phone cameras up to the screen to scan a QR code of his outfit.
The code will automatically direct them to Lacoste’s website, where they can shop the look.
Baseball news I have been keeping an eye on -
After Triple-A baseball team the Fresno Grizzlies aired a controversial Memorial Day tribute video on their Jumbotron, which features a picture of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC), as an enemy of freedom, between images of North Korea's Kim Jong-Un and the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro, two big-name sponsors chose to end their partnership with the team. Heineken USA. which owns Dos Equis and Tecate beer, "confirmed it has pulled its sponsorships for those brands". Sun-Maid raisins have also terminated its sponsorship with the Grizzlies.
Golf news that excites me -
The US Golf Association announced that the purses for both the U.S. Open and U.S. Women's Open will increase by $500,000 in 2019. Meaning that history will be made for the women's competition, as the increase pushes the purse to $5.5 million, which means the winner, provided she is a professional, will take home $1 million for the first time ever.
Athlete I am learning about -
Sadaf Khadem, an Iranian who became the first woman from her country to contest an official boxing match. When she beat French boxer Anne Chauvin, in an amateur bout in April. Khadem has said that she has been told that warrants had been issued for their arrest.
"I was fighting in a legally approved match, in France. But as I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, which is completely normal in the eyes of the entire world, I confounded the rules of my country," she told the L'Equipe newspaper. "I wasn't wearing a hijab, I was coached by a man - some people take a dim view of this."
Have a wonderful weekend, all! Jonathan