Alipay inks 8-year sponsorship deal with UEFA
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin (center) poses with Alibaba chairman Jack Ma (fourth left) and Ant Financial Executive Chairman Eric Jing (third right).
Alibaba's payment affiliate Alipay and Union of European Football Association on Friday announced an eight-year sponsorship deal with the payment service set to offer digital payment experiences to football fans and other technology innovations.
Alipay would become the Official Global Payment Partner, Official Global Digital Wallet and the Official Global FinTech Partner for all men’s national team events, including UEFA EURO 2020 and UEFA EURO 2024.
Its another major step for Ant Financial's globalization efforts as it is seeking to bring digital payment solutions and financial technologies to Southeast Asian as well as European countries.
Alipay's first four-year cycle as a UEFA national team competitions sponsor would cover eight competitions, including 420 matches with an estimated total live audience of 7.4 billion people.
“We are proud to announce this unique and groundbreaking partnership with Ant Financial and Alipay for UEFA’s national team competitions and we believe the partnership will further innovate the way UEFA engages with football fans around the world,” UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said.
“By partnering with UEFA, we hope to share the passion and happiness of football with more people across the world and bring them the benefits of digital life,” said Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ant Financial Eric Jing.
