Michael Phelps, the Olympic swimming champion, , could be in trouble for his recent photo shoot with French luxury fashion house – Louis Vuitton.
After the Photos of Phelps for LV were leaked on the Internet late last week, it was said to have violated the International Olympic Committee’s Rule 40, which states that athletes can’t promote any non-Olympic sponsors from July 18 to Aug. 15. Punishments for the rule range from fines to a stripping of medals.
The campaign was set to begin on Aug. 16 in order to comply with the IOC’s campaign against ambush marketing. Someone jumped the gun and the photos appeared on a wide variety of websites starting on the second Tuesday of the Olympics.
Louis Vuitton denies releasing the photographs, as does Phelps’ camp.
