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
TreviPay Named a Leader in Two 2026 IDC MarketScape Assessments for AI-Enabled A/R Automation and Embedded Payments15.10.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
TreviPay, a global B2B payments infrastructure partner, today announced it has been named a Leader in two 2026 IDC MarketScape assessments: the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide AI-Enabled Accounts Receivable Automation Applications for the Enterprise 2026 Vendor Assessment and the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Embedded Payment Applications in Accounts Receivable Workflows 2026 Vendor Assessment. The recognition comes as enterprise finance teams look beyond automating individual A/R tasks toward coordinating the decisions and actions that drive growth and improve cash flow. We believe these assessments reflect a market in which payment execution, cash application, credit, collections and customer experience are valued when working together in one connected system. The IDC MarketScape for Worldwide AI-Enabled Accounts Receivable Automation Applications for the Enterprise noted the following strengths: Flexible risk retention options: A partnership with Mastercard lets clients offer net terms with
Visa Direct Launches Stablecoin-Powered Money Movement as Pilots Move to Production15.10.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
Today, Visa (NYSE: V) announced the next phase of its stablecoin strategy as Visa Direct stablecoin capabilities advance from pilot stage to commercial deployment. The milestone marks an important step in bringing stablecoin-enabled money movement into real-world commercial operations. In the initial rollout, Inyo Global, a Visa Direct processor, is the first enabler of this new offering, powering it for eligible Visa Direct clients and partners1. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261015116414/en/ Over the past year, Visa Direct has worked with clients and partners to explore how stablecoins can help improve the way businesses fund and move money across borders. As interest in faster, more flexible just-in-time funding solutions continues to grow, Visa is now seeing those efforts move beyond experimentation and into day-to-day business operations. As part of this next phase, Visa is working with Inyo Global, a p
Philip Morris International Announces EU Economic Footprint Study 2021-2025: Transformation Made in Europe15.10.2026 14:42:00 EEST | Press release
At a defining moment for Europe’s competitiveness, Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) (NYSE: PM) today publishes the second edition of its EU Economic Footprint Study, prepared by EY-Parthenon. Spanning 2021 to 2025, the study demonstrates the scale of PMI’s contribution across the European Union and the capabilities developed through its transformation. The company’s footprint reaches far beyond its own operations, supporting suppliers, manufacturers, researchers, retailers, farmers, employees, and communities across Europe. Five key figures from the EU Economic Footprint Study 2021-2025: Nearly €343 billion in total contribution to the EU economy between 2021 and 2025. €22.3 billion in spending with European suppliers and €27.4 billion invested across PMI's European operations, strengthening industrial capacity and supply-chain resilience. €39.5 billion in exports, reinforcing Europe’s position as a manufacturing and export hub. Around 164,000 jobs supported in 2025, including ne
Future Health Launches Global Challenge to Move Health Innovation Towards Real-world Application15.10.2026 14:26:00 EEST | Press release
Future Health – A Global Initiative by Abu Dhabi opened applications for the Future Health Digital Innovation Challenge 2026, welcoming innovators from around the world to develop AI, software, and connected technology solutions that can help people and health systems understand health needs earlier and act sooner. Selected teams will gain access to technical and clinical expertise across Abu Dhabi’s health and innovation ecosystem, alongside structured support to refine their solutions, test assumptions and develop working prototypes, helping them turn promising ideas into real-world impact faster. Selected solutions may also have the opportunity to progress to further validation, incubation, piloting and scale. As part of the programme, three finalists will progress to an awards ceremony at GITEX 2026 and share a total prize pool of USD 105,000. The winning team will receive USD 50,000, and two finalists will receive USD 35,000 and USD 20,000 respectively. Digital technologies are cr
Hitachi Energy and Rockwell Automation Unite Power and Automation to Help Industries Accelerate Electrification15.10.2026 14:00:00 EEST | Press release
Hitachi Energy, a global leader in electrification, and Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world's largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, announced today a collaboration centered on an integrated grid-to-process architecture that combines the infrastructure powering industrial facilities with the systems that manage production. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261015759841/en/ Hitachi Energy and Rockwell Automation Unite Power and Automation to Help Industries Accelerate Electrification As industrial companies face rising power demand, growing pressure to decarbonize, and increasing constraints on capital investment, electrical systems and production operations can no longer be planned in isolation. Decisions about power infrastructure increasingly influence operational performance, while production requirements play a larger role in planning, deploying, and opera
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