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Monday, June 6, 2011

Is Ryan Giggs the new Tiger Woods? Love-rat footballer faces exodus of sponsors like shamed golfer

By JAMES TOZER

United in public: Stacey Giggs has so far stayed with the shamed footballer and the couple are currently out of the country as further revelations come to light

Reebok declines to comment if they are standing by him following claims

Rhodri Giggs could demand paternity test over possibility footballer is son's father

Brothers' aunt describes Ryan as: ‘a dirty dog’ with ‘no morals’

Ryan and Stacey cancel plush Spanish hotel break, opting to stay in private villa

Ryan Giggs could become the ‘new Tiger Woods’ as sponsors abandon him over his

alleged philandering, marketing experts believe.

They predicted that the firms which have helped amass a £34million fortune would react unfavourably to the wrecking of his family-man image.

And they warned that, unlike the golfer who still has a long career ahead of him, 37-year-old Giggs is unlikely to have enough time to rebuild his reputation before he ends his playing days.

More to come: Natasha Giggs is understood to have signed a six-figure tabloid deal following the revelation that she had an eight-year affair with Ryan Giggs, the brother of her husband Rhodri, pictured right

Giggs’s biggest deal, which has earned him £20million, is with the sportswear giant Reebok, but it declined to respond yesterday when asked by the Mail whether it would be standing by him.

The Manchester United star’s downfall came after he was revealed to have taken out an injunction forbidding reporting of an alleged relationship with former Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas.

Big deal: Giggs' sponsorship with sportswear company Reebok has helped to earn him £20m

Then, at the weekend, his brother Rhodri’s wife Natasha revealed that she and Giggs had an eight-year affair.

She is said to have regularly slept with the £80,000-a-week star until April this year, during which time she and Rhodri had a son who will be five this summer.

Struggle: Marketing experts have said that Giggs will find it extremely difficult to recover his image in the time he has left in his playing career

The alleged affair raises the prospect that Rhodri could now demand a paternity test to examine the possibility that his brother is actually the father of the child.

‘He looks just like Rhodri – but then the two brothers also look very similar,’ a friend was quoted as saying.

The boy was born in August 2006, two months before Ryan and Stacey Giggs’s own son was born.

DNA testing experts confirmed that there would be sufficient markers in samples from brothers who were not genetically identical twins to establish paternity.

Rhodri fled abroad yesterday after apparently telling friends that his marriage is over.

Meanwhile, Ryan was due to stay, with wife Stacey, at their favourite hotel in Spain.

But the couple cancelled their room at the plush Marbella Club and are now believed to have switched to a more private villa.

A source at the exclusive resort told The Sun: 'Their booking was suddenly cancelled. It's a shock to hear of the trouble in their marriage.'

Serial adulterer: Tiger Woods lost several sponsorship deals when his affairs came to light

It was reported at the weekend that 28-year-old Natasha decided to speak out from a sense of betrayal after Giggs took out his ill-fated injunction to keep his alleged affair with Miss Thomas secret.

Marketing experts said firms would now be loth to associate themselves with him.

Along with Reebok, Giggs signed deals to publicise the Swiss watch firms Patek
Philippe and Cyma, car manufacturer Citroen and phone company Saudi Telecom.

Fleeing abroad: A tired looking Rhodri was driven from his £170,000 terrace home yesterday by his best friend, the actor Will Mellor

‘A little like Tiger Woods, he had this untouchable air about him, almost Mr Perfect – he was seen as a model professional and a really good guy.

‘Once that image goes, he’s likely to find his whole unique selling point has gone, too.’