Keisuke Honda loses US advertising deal over Iran support at World Cup
Al Jazeera
Japanese football legend says his opinion prompts a US company to cancel an advertising campaign before the FIFA World Cup.
Former Japanese footballer Keisuke Honda says he has lost an advertising deal in the United States after voicing support for the Iranian national team’s participation in the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
Without naming the sponsor, Honda revealed on Saturday that an advertisement from a US-based company had been “put on hold” after he posted on X that he wants Iran to compete in the tournament cohosted by the US, Mexico and Canada.
“I know it’s a very sensitive thing, but I personally want them to participate in the World Cup,” the 39-year-old wrote in a tweet on Thursday, a day after Iran’s sports minister said the country cannot take part in the World Cup after the US and Israel launched a war on it and killed its supreme leader.
Honda, who represented Japan from 2008 to 2018 and scored 38 international goals for his country, posted a follow-up tweet in which he indicated that the advertisement, which had been expected to be finalised in time for the World Cup, had been shelved due to his earlier post.
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