An American athlete sanctioned for wearing… An Apple Watch

An American athlete named Ben Roethlisberger was fined a fairly high amount for a reason that may seem very strange. Indeed, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback was penalized for wearing…An Apple Watch.

A $5,000 Apple Watch

Let's also remember that the player was not even on the field, but rather on the sidelines during the match between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals. He was unable to participate in the match as he was recovering from shoulder surgery. The athlete was therefore sanctioned even though he did not participate in the game.

Suffice to say that his presence was noticed, particularly by the National Football League (NFL), which spotted the Apple Watch that Ben Roethlisberger wore on his left wrist. The latter was fined $5,000 because the NFL is largely sponsored by… Microsoft. For its part, the League therefore declared that the connected watch was a “uniform violation».

For his part, the athlete defended himself by attesting to the fact that he did not know that he was wearing an Apple Watch, also judging that he had “notnever received prior warning» about this. In a statement, it is stated on this subject: “With Roethlisberger unable to use his right arm, his wife dressed him for the Monday night game and strapped the Apple Watch to his left wrist". Following this, the athlete decided to appeal the NFL's decision.

As recalled9To5Mac, a coach of the Arizona Diamondbacks team has already been sanctioned, also for wearing an Apple Watch, in 2017.