Heineken Hosts Biggest UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour in Africa
11.5.2022 09:59:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
In its continuing effort to bring the UEFA Champions League (UCL) experience closer to more football fans around the world, Heineken has staged its most elaborate Trophy Tour in Africa yet. The 10-day tour, which ended on April 13 in Abuja, Nigeria, ahead of the 2022 final match on May 28, included several public events that featured the UCL trophy at major stops in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. Fans from Rwanda and Congo Brazzaville also attended the tour in Nigeria and DRC respectively.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220509006222/en/
Clarence Seedorf on tour with the UEFA Champions League trophy in Ethiopia, as part of the pan-African tour, courtesy of Heineken.
The events around the tour included open-truck city parades, novelty matches with local celebrities, UCL quarter final match viewings, fan meet and greets, photo sessions, media rounds, Afrobeats concerts, and visits to government ministries in charge of football.
Heineken, sold in 192 countries around the world, has been a sponsor of the UEFA Champions League since 2005 and the company’s leadership said its Africa-wide trophy tour for the 2021/2022 season was structured to reach 50,000 Africans directly while an estimated 10 million more are reached via media coverage.
A highlight of the trophy tour was a Heineken-sponsored football match in Lagos, Nigeria. It pitted Nigerian music superstars and football legends against senior staff of Nigerian Breweries, which is the local Heineken brewer, and the Trophy Tour Ambassador, professional coach and former Dutch international midfielder, Clarence Seedorf.
BET Awards-winning Afrobeats star Davido captained Team Nigeria, which had ex-Nigerian internationals Austin Jay Jay Okocha, Daniel Amokachi, and Taribo West. Also on the squad were rapper M.I. Abaga, R&B singer Darey, and Nigerian Breweries Marketing Director, Emmanuel Oriakhi. Seedorf led Team Heineken, playing, among others, Nigerian Breweries Finance Director, Rob Kleinjan; and the company’s Supply Chain Director, Martin Kochl.
The novelty match preceded an Afrobeats concert that was headlined by African superstar, Davido and Peruzzi, another topflight Nigerian singer. Members of the Heineken management team and Seedorf then met with the Nigerian Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, at the MKO Abiola stadium in Abuja, the country’s capital.
The Union of European Football Associations, the umbrella organisation for 55 national football associations across Europe, organizes the Champions League as an annual competition among top-division football clubs. The 2022 final match is slated for May 28 at the Stade de France in Paris.
“The goal of the Trophy Tour is to inspire a new generation of African footballers and appreciate fans for their love of the UEFA Champions League and Heineken,” said Heineken’s Senior Global Director, Bram Westerbrink.
The continent’s importance to the growth of football and the UCL is evident, Bram also noted. Several European clubs in the English, French, Italian, Spanish, and German leagues have notable African following, with many of the fans organising meetups and celebrations when their favourite teams record tournament successes. With more than 100 Africans currently playing professionally, over 25 Champions League winners from Africa, and about 300 million African fans, football has taken hold as the most popular sport on the continent.
“This is why Heineken is proud to celebrate its association with the UEFA Champions League,” said Hans Erik Tuijt, Director, Global Heineken Sponsorships, adding that Heineken has the highest awareness on the continent as a sponsor of the UEFA Champions League.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220509006222/en/
Contact information
Enitan Kehinde
Enitan@bhmng.uk
+447899410249
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
European Wealth Firms Build Private Markets Capability Faster Than They Communicate It, Peregrine Report Finds20.10.2026 11:15:00 EEST | Press release
Europe's leading wealth managers have built genuine private markets capability but most have yet to explain it to the clients they built it for, according to The Wealth 30, a new report from Peregrine Communications. The study analyses how 30 leading UK and European wealth managers and private banks position private markets. It concludes that communication, not product, is now the biggest barrier to differentiation in the wealth channel. Capability outpaces explanation 73% of the Wealth 30 engage in private markets yet only 40% operate a dedicated landing page explaining what private markets are, why they matter and how clients can access them. Just 23% combine explainers, a destination and repeatable house-view content. Swiss private banks set the benchmark, supported by house views, outlooks and heritage narratives. Pictet, UBP, Lombard Odier and Julius Baer all back their positioning with repeatable insight content, and Coutts is the clearest UK example. UK firms more often communic
Infobip and Yamaha Power Conversational Customer Engagement in Indonesia’s Automotive Sector20.10.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
Global AI-first cloud communications platform Infobip strengthens its collaboration with Yamaha Indonesia Motor Manufacturing (YIMM) to transform customer engagement through WhatsApp-powered conversational experiences designed to drive stronger personalization and faster customer interactions. As Indonesia’s consumers increasingly adopt digital-first purchasing behaviors, Yamaha Indonesia is evolving how it connects with customers across the buying journey. Today’s motorcycle buyers often research products through Yamaha’s social media, websites, and video reviews on YouTube before visiting dealerships, raising expectations for brands to deliver fast, seamless, and highly personalized communication. For more than two years, Infobip has supported Yamaha Indonesia in building connected customer engagement strategies that integrate WhatsApp across the company’s wider digital ecosystem, including its websites, social media platforms, and customer touchpoints. The collaboration reflects the
Finsei Selects Thredd to Power New Debit Offering20.10.2026 10:00:00 EEST | Press release
Thredd, the AI-first issuer processing platform, today announced a new partnership with Finsei, a London-based payments company, to power the processing infrastructure behind Finsei’s new Mastercard debit offering. The partnership reflects a shared focus on simplifying an increasingly complex payments environment. Businesses operating across markets often rely on multiple providers to manage accounts, payments, foreign exchange, cards and expenses. Finsei is designed to bring those capabilities together, while Thredd provides the underlying payment technology and infrastructure needed to deliver a secure, digital-first debit experience at scale. At launch, physical and virtual cards will be available, followed by both Apple Pay and Google Pay. “Businesses increasingly expect their financial tools to work together rather than operate as a collection of disconnected services,” said Jim McCarthy, CEO of Thredd. “Finsei is building around that expectation, bringing payments, currency manag
BRG Survey Finds 71% of Competition Lawyers Say Global Antitrust Policies Grew More Fragmented over Past Year20.10.2026 10:00:00 EEST | Press release
Global antitrust enforcement is pulling apart along national lines, with 71% of senior competition attorneys reporting that policy became more fragmented across jurisdictions over the past 12 months, according to BRG’s inaugural Global Antitrust & Competition Report. Nearly four in five (78%) also cite cross-border antitrust requirements as a significant or recurring challenge. The report draws on a survey of 155 senior antitrust and competition attorneys across the U.S., Europe and Asia-Pacific (APAC) and in-depth interviews with 18 leading lawyers. It also finds that about 60% of respondents expect antitrust enforcement to expand in scope and intensity over the next 12 months. “Domestic politics and geopolitical considerations increasingly influence the application of competition law across jurisdictions”, said David Parker, a managing director at BRG. “As a result, deal timelines and risk assessments often now have to be built jurisdiction by jurisdiction, from the earliest stage of
Murata Develops World’s Smallest 008004-inch Size (0.25mm × 0.125mm) NTC Thermistor for Space-Constrained Temperature Sensing20.10.2026 05:00:00 EEST | Press release
Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (TOKYO: 6981) (ISIN: JP3914400001) announces the development of the world’s smallest* 008004-inch size (0.25mm × 0.125mm) NTC thermistor, the NCU01 series. Compared with Murata’s previous smallest 01005-inch size (0.4mm × 0.2mm) product, the new series reduces mounting area by approximately 60% while achieving equivalent temperature-sensing performance, with resistance tolerance of ±1% and B-constant tolerance of ±1%. Its ultra-compact size enables temperature sensing to be positioned in increasingly restricted spaces and closer to heat-generating components, supporting more accurate and responsive thermal monitoring in smartphones, wearable devices, and other densely integrated electronic devices. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261019189089/en/ [Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.] World’s smallest 008004-inch size (0.25mm × 0.125mm) NTC thermistor Murata plans to begin sample shipm
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom