FAmid controversy, Pernod Ricard is abandoning its partnership with PSG. The spirits group, which had partnered with the Parisian football club earlier this week, sparking an outcry in Marseille, announced on Thursday, September 5, that it was drawing a line under this association. “For over 90 years, Ricard’s history has been intertwined with Marseille, which saw it born, grow up and inspire it. And this link is stronger than anything. It is therefore a decision that comes from the heart that I am taking today,” said the group’s CEO, Alexandre Ricard, in a press release, to justify this turnaround.
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In the group’s press release, Alexandre Ricard said he made his decision “by listening to those who make it a success, including our employees in France, our customers and our shareholders.” He also assured that his company “will proudly continue to claim its origins and the sincerity of the ties that unite [ses] brands to their communities.”
— INFO.OM_13 (@infoom_13) https://twitter.com/infoom_13/status/1831666382162759933?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwAccused of “making a pact with the devil”
The partnership between Pernod Ricard and PSG was signed for a period of four years, and made the brand founded by Marseille’s Paul Ricard, creator of pastis, the sole supplier of champagne and spirits to the capital club. The aim was to promote the group internationally, but the Marseilles quickly became outraged by this partnership, against a backdrop of historic rivalry between the Marseille club and PSG.
Since Monday, many OM supporters have been calling for a boycott of the famous aniseed drink, accusing Pernod Ricard of having “made a pact with the devil”. “Bunch of traitors”, some of them wrote on social networks, while the hashtag #BoycottPernodRicard has become one of the most popular on the X platform.
The mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, also got involved. “I wasn’t happy,” the mayor told BFM Marseille Provence on Wednesday, adding, ironically, that “the people of Marseille are laughing bitterly.”
READ ALSO A Ligue 1 without a star, the best news? But faced with this turnaround, PSG leaders say they are “surprised by the situation”. According to France Bleu Paris, the Pernod Ricard group remains a partner of PSG, and the collaboration with the Marseille group will be redefined.
