Stokes’ career hangs in the Balance
Ben Stokes has apologised for mocking a disabled child, but it did not stop New Balance from ending its sponsorship deal with him.
The multinational sports equipment company tore up the England cricket all-rounder’s contract yesterday, reported by the Telegraph to be worth £200,000 (NZ$375,000) per year.
It came hours after the 26-yearold apologised for a video which emerged this month of him mocking celebrity Katie Price’s 14-yearold son, Harvey, who is blind and suffers from Prader-Willi syndrome, autism and ADHD. It was the second indiscretion for Stokes in quick succession after he was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm after an incident in late September outside a Bristol nightclub. A video later emerged of a man, alleged to be Stokes, throwing 15 punches in a minute.
New Balance said in a statement Stokes’ conduct was not in line with the company’s values.
‘‘New Balance does not condone behaviour by our global athletes that does not match our brand culture and values, and therefore we have ended our relationship with Ben Stokes, effective October 11, 2017.’’
Earlier, Stokes had issued his apology on Twitter.
‘‘I have written to both Harvey and Katie to say sorry and prior to this offered to meet in person at the end of last month with a view to also getting behind their petition about online bullying. I do hope I can put this right.’’