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
Bolstering its Executive Team, Taktile Welcomes Engineering Powerhouse James Broadhead as CTO16.9.2026 12:00:00 EEST | Press release
Taktile, the leader in AI transformation for financial institutions, today announced it has hired engineering veteran James Broadhead as its chief technology officer. Broadhead, who is based in Dublin, Ireland, most recently worked at Databricks and brings nearly 15 years of experience in software engineering and development, including at X (Twitter), Neon and MongoDB. At Neon, Broadhead led engineering through exponential growth of the platform driven by Agentic software development, more than tripling company revenue before its acquisition by Databricks. “Taktile is growing rapidly across global markets, and James’ leadership will be instrumental as we expand our R&D function and global footprint,” said Taktile CEO and co-founder Maik Taro Wehmeyer. “James’ extensive background and expertise in engineering will take Taktile to the next level in powering mission-critical financial decisions at scale with AI.” Alongside this appointment, Taktile co-founder and current chief product and
Vantor, UK Ministry of Defence and Industry Partners Establish Defence Intelligence Innovation Cluster – Project FAIRFAX16.9.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
Vantor, the leader in unified spatial intelligence, announced today it has joined the UK Ministry of Defence and industry partners to launch the UK Defence Intelligence Innovation Cluster, a new collaboration designed to accelerate the development and deployment of next-generation defence and intelligence capabilities and strengthen the UK’s sovereign defence industrial base. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260916244808/en/ Vantor's Mike Buckley with RAF Wyton officials, council and industry partners at the FAIRFAX Collaboration Hub opening. The cluster is being established through Project FAIRFAX, a joint initiative between the UK Ministry of Defence, Huntingdonshire District Council, Vantor, CGI UK and MAIAR. Together, the founding partners are creating a permanent hub at RAF Wyton where the UK government, industry and academia can work together on operational challenges, evaluate emerging technologies and a
More than Half of Consumers are Comfortable with AI Agents Applying for Credit, Experian Research Finds16.9.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
Consumers are ready to take the next step in their relationship with artificial intelligence (AI), according to AI in Risk: The Rise of Agentic Commerce, new research from data and technology company, Experian, conducted by Forrester Consulting. The study of 6,247 credit-active consumers across 13 EMEA and Asia Pacific markets, found that more than half (54%) of respondents are comfortable with AI agents applying for credit on their behalf. The findings point to the next stage in the evolution of financial services, where consumers are becoming comfortable allowing AI to move beyond providing information to supporting parts of the lending journey, including comparing lenders, checking eligibility, completing applications and securely submitting authorised documents. "Consumers are already changing the way they engage with financial services," said Mariana Pinheiro, Chief Executive Officer, Experian EMEA & Asia Pacific. "They are not just experimenting with AI anymore; they are beginnin
Aqara Announces the Availability of The Spatial Multi-Sensor FP400, Offering Advanced Spatial Intelligence for Smart Homes16.9.2026 10:00:00 EEST | Press release
Aqara, a global leader and pioneer in IoT, today announced the release of the Spatial Multi-Sensor FP400. The FP400 is designed to bring precise, spatial intelligence to homes without sacrificing the privacy typically compromised by smart cameras. Rather than simply detecting motion or presence, the FP400 enables homes to better understand occupancy, movement, and context for more granular and personalized automations and insight. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260916958372/en/ Aqara Announces the Availability of The Spatial Multi-Sensor FP400, Offering Advanced Spatial Intelligence for Smart Homes The Spatial Multi-Sensor FP400 redefines how smart homes perceive and interact with living spaces by combining high-precision spatial sensing with AI-powered environmental understanding. Powered by a next-generation high-precision 60GHz mmWave radar, the FP400 delivers industry-leading multi-person sensing, precise
Cambridge Associates Opens Italian Office and Expands European Leadership16.9.2026 10:00:00 EEST | Press release
Global investment firm Cambridge Associates (CA) today announced the opening of a new office in Milan and the appointment of two senior hires in Europe. The move reflects the firm’s ongoing commitment to providing bespoke services to current and future institutional and family office investors across the region. Raphael Heynold has joined the Client Solutions team as Head of EMEA and APAC and will serve on the firm’s EMEA Operating Committee. Based in London, Raphael is a key member of the Global Client Solutions Leadership team, responsible for driving growth and market expansion and overseeing client engagement efforts across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific regions. Heynold brings more than 30 years of experience across client strategy, investment banking and investment management, and has worked with many sophisticated families and institutions around the world. Riccardo Pianeti has joined Cambridge Associates to lead the Italian office. He will serve as Head of the Milan
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