Still hand in hand, say his sponsors

SPONSORS are standing by Thierry Henry after his blatant handball dashed Ireland’s hopes of qualifying for next summer’s World Cup.

The Barcelona striker is one of the few footballers to have a global presence thanks, largely, to his involvement in some high-profile ad campaigns.

Henry partners golfer Tiger Woods and tennis star Roger Federer in an advert for Gillette Fusion as part of Gillette’s champions campaign. When Gillette launched the campaign in 2007, the US company said it had chosen the French striker because he embodied “true sporting values”.

However, the whole of the Irish nation is likely to question such an assertion after Wednesday night’s handball broke Irish hearts and denied Ireland a place in South Africa.

Despite the handball, Gillette has said it would not affect its relationship with the player.

“It’s not our place to comment on refereeing in a match but this is not going to affect our relationship with him,” said a spokesperson.

The deal is rumoured to be worth about €5.5 million to the footballer.

Henry is also one of the faces of Pepsi alongside Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi and English Premier League stars Frank Lampard and former Arsenal teammate Cesc Fabregas.

The Barcelona striker also appeared in an ad campaign for Renault that popularised the phrase “Va-va-voom”. Henry still has sponsorship deals with Reebok and Tommy Hilfiger.

Ironically, in a recent anti-obesity Playa4Life message for Pepsi, Henry mentions three people who have influenced him in his life: Marco van Basten, his father and Maradona. The Argentinean went down in the annals of football for his “Hand of God” goal against England in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.