In June 2010, he had his £150,000 a year contract with ITV cancelled for giving away World Cup tickets for the Netherlands v Denmark match. Meant for family and friends, he passed them onwards to a friend who then sold them to Bavaria Brewery. The Brewery company orchestrated an ambush marketing event, in breach of FIFA rules. The incident also led to him losing his role as an ambassador for England's 2018 World Cup bid. Earle described his actions as "naive" and insisted that he had "not profited in any way". It later emerged that ITV had given Earle 400 free tickets for the tournament, including 40 for the final itself. This allocation had a RRP of around £70,000. Not permitted to sell the tickets Earle had freely given them out to friends and family, unaware that a 'close friend' would then sell a significant number on to the Dutch company.