Who deserves to lose its sponsorship?

Nowadays companies commonly choose famous and successfull personalities to represent their brand. By doing so, a brand uses the relationship between the public and the superstar as a channel to reach its audience. Once the publiceffectively associates the brand to the super star, feelings such as admiration and identification are also channeled to the brand. A great way to connect to the public.

However, what happens when the super star´s imageis affected by a scandal? Does the public relate also the negative image to the brand? What justifies losing a sponsorship?

Who deserves to lose its sponsorship?

1- Michael Phelps: American swimmer, age 25, has won a total of 59 medals in major international competition. In Beijing (2008) and Athens (2004) Olympics, Michael was the most successful athlete. He also earned the World swimmer of the year six times and American swimmer of the year eight times.
Scandal:
Michael Phelps was photographed smoking marijuana at a student party in the University of South Carolina.
Consequence:
Lost Kellogg´s sponsorship. "Michael´s most recent behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg."
Speedo, Omega and Visa decided to continue Michael´s sponsorship.

2-Ronaldo: Brazilian soccer player, age 34, was part of Brazilian squad that won the 1994 and 2002 World Cup. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he became the highest goal scorer in the history of World Cup. Ronaldo also won the Ballon d'Or as the European Footballer of the year in 1997 and 2002, the FIFA player of the year three times and was named to the FIFA 100.
Scandal:
In a night in his hometown, Ronaldo decided to take three prostitutes to a local motel. Turns out the ladies were in fact men, and Ronaldo ended up being the subject of total media humiliation.
Consequence:
Ronaldo lost a U$4,8 milions sponsorship contract with Tim, a mobile phone company.

3-Stephanie Rice: Australian swimmer, 22 years, current holds the World record in the 400m women´s individual medley, and won three gold medals at the summer Olympics in Beijing.
Scandal:
After the victory of Australian Rugby Union Team (Wallabies) over South Africa, Stephanie celebrated with this post on her twitter "Suck on that faggots!"
Consequence:
Stephanie lost her sponsorship as jaguar´s ambassador and had to give back the Jaguar XF she had in possession.

4-Tiger Woods: American golfer, age 35, won 14 professional major golf championships, 71 GPA Tour events, and 16 World Golf Championships.
Scandal:
After tabloides published stories asserting that Woods had been engaging in multiple extramarital affairs for years, Woods admitted his infidelity and announced an indefinite leave from professional golf to focus on his marriage.
Consequence:
Tiger Woods lost three major sponsorships: AT&T, Accenture and Gatorade.
Nike Inc. and Electronic Arts Inc. reiterated their support after Wood´s apologies.