The 2014 World Cup is almost over, but its drama will stick around for months to come. During the Round of 16, Uruguay’s Luis Suarez was suspended after biting an Italian player. Now, weeks later, it has been revealed that bookmaker Paddy Power had plans to milk the opportunity and launch a publicity stunt. Shortly after the biting incident, Paddy Power contacted Liverpool and Uruguay team representatives.
The betting operator wanted to engage in a publicity stunt that would see Suarez don a Paddy Power-branded mouthguard during his team’s next game. However, the plan fell through when FIFA ruled that Suarez would be banned from both international and club football. According to the Irish Independent, sources from Paddy Power confirm that they were in talks about the idea for about a year.
The idea was spawned shortly after Suarez was banned for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. In the end, the stunt never happened because negotiations broke down due to costs.
"We reconnected with Garcia immediately after his latest World Cup biting 'incident' and in principle we had a deal in place whereby Suarez would reveal a Paddy Power branded mouth guard during the national anthems before the Uruguay vs Columbia match,” the sources said. Had Suaraz not been banned from his next World Cup match, it would have been a great business decision.
Seeing as 888 pulled its sponsorship of the troubled player, it would have certainly benefited him to earn a little extra cash from Paddy Power’s stunt. Paddy Power is no stranger to publicity stunts. At the beginning of this year’s World Cup, the company posted a photo of the Amazon Rainforest with the phrase ‘C’MON ENGLAND – PP’ carved through the trees.
Another stunt would have certainly generated a great deal of buzz for the company, but it did no come to fruition.
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