UEFA and AntChain, the blockchain business of Ant Group, announced a five-year global partnership around blockchain technologies and to jointly explore how blockchain technology can be used to further the digital transformation of football industry and improve the experiences of fans around the world.
In doing so, AntChain also becomes the official global blockchain partner of UEFA EURO 2020 and UEFA EURO 2024
The partnership also revealed the tournament’s Top Scorer Trophy which applies blockchain technology and designed by Alipay, a digital payment and lifestyle platform operated by Ant Group and UEFA’s global partner since November 2018.
The UEFA EURO 2020 Top Scorer Trophy is the first major international football Top-Scorer trophy to utilise blockchain in its design and will feature a hash value at its base through which the scoring records of the tournament’s top scorers will be uploaded and permanently stored on a blockchain based on AntChain’s solution.
Alipay will also launch “Top Scorers in Campus”, a new advocacy programme dedicated to helping the development of campus football in China.
To inspire more teenagers to pursue their football dreams, the “Top Scorers in Campus” programme will award trophies with the same design as the Top Scorer Trophy of UEFA EURO 2020 to the best young players in campus football tournaments across China.
Similar to the UEFA EURO 2020 top scorer trophy, these student footballers’ scoring records and honors will also be stored on the blockchain provided by AntChain.
Geoff Jiang, President of Intelligent Technology Business Group, Ant Group said,
“We are excited for AntChain to become the official partner of UEFA EURO 2020 and UEFA National Team Football.
As football and technology increasingly come together to innovate for fans globally, AntChain will explore how innovative technologies including blockchain can help the sports industry better develop and facilitate its digital transformation.”
