Brazilian superstar Ronaldo is suing a
Chinese company for using his image in a television commercial for
throat lozenges without his permission, reports said on Friday.
The advertisements showing Ronaldo, who is on the verge signing on with
AC Milan, were broadcast on national television in China.
Ronaldo has complained that the image, apparently gleaned from Real
Madrid's 2003 trip to China, was used without his permission and plans
to sue, the state-run newspaper Beijing Youth Weekend and other reports
said.
The prime-time ads are also shown by local broadcasters. The ads show a
grinning Ronaldo holding up a packet of Golden Throat Lozenges.
Calls to the company, Guangxi Golden Throat Group, based in southwestern
China's Guangxi region, were not answered on Friday.
The World Cup hero, who traveled on Thursday to Milan for a medical
examination ahead of a transfer, could not be contacted to confirm the
report.
The Chinese reports said local lawyers had been hired to collect
evidence, and that the football star would take legal action next month.
According to the state-run newspaper China Daily, Guangxi Golden Throat
has defended its use of Ronaldo's image. |
