Professional soccer player Emmanuel Adebayor raised a lot of eyebrows this Tuesday, when after signing his job contract with Crystal Palace, he admitted that he knew nothing about his new club and would be googling it to get more information.
“I don’t know much about the club but it’s better to learn so I’ll be going on Google and finding out more about them,” said the 31-year-old striker at a press conference announcing his new job.
Not surprisingly, Adebayor’s ignorance about his new employer enraged a lot of Crystal Palace fans in England and around the world. In addition, the news has quickly become a topic of ridicule and was reported by a number of high profile professional outlets, including The Sun, The Daily Star, Bleacherreport.com and Sky Sports among others.
This is yet another great example highlighting the importance of professional media training for everyone who speaks with reporters on a regular basis. Regardless of the industry, people need to be prepared AHEAD OF TIME for interviews and be ready to answer questions credibly without looking clueless. It is important to remember that, whether you are a corporate spokesperson, a CEO or a professional athlete, what you say can affect much more than your own reputation.
As for Emmanuel Adebayor, he has a lot of PR damage control to do before Crystal Palace fans forget about his press conference fiasco.