UEFA has renewed its partnership with Ant Group through UEFA EURO 2028, extending the collaboration into its tenth year.
Under the new agreement, Ant Group will serve as the tournament’s official payment, wealth management and health assistant partner, expanding a partnership that began in 2018 with Alipay as UEFA’s payment partner.
Ant Group will bring three of its platforms to the tournament: Alipay for payments, Ant Fortune for wealth management and AQ as its health assistant.
These platforms will support UEFA’s fan engagement efforts and provide digital services throughout EURO 2028, which the UK and Ireland will host.
Ant International’s payment brands join the UEFA partnership
The renewed agreement will also cover Ant International, Ant Group’s international business arm, which provides AI-powered global payment and account services.
Its brands, including Alipay+, Antom and WorldFirst, will form part of the partnership, supporting fans, travellers and businesses worldwide.
Alipay+ connects regional e-wallets for cross-border payments, while Antom provides payment services to merchants. WorldFirst offers cross-border payment and account services to businesses, including SMEs.
The agreement also brings Ant International, headquartered in Singapore, into UEFA’s EURO 2028 commercial partnership network.
Beyond digital payment services, Ant Group will work with the UEFA Foundation for Children on charitable initiatives and support UEFA’s sustainability strategy.
The company will also invest in projects in the UK and Ireland linked to EURO 2028.
“Together, we’ve shown what’s possible when football’s global passion meets innovative technology, always with fans’ experience at the heart of it,”
said Aleksander Čeferin, President of UEFA.
“With globalisation as one of our core strategies and football as a universal language that connects people around the world, we are excited to work with UEFA to help fans around the world experience the passion and joy of the game in new ways, while unlocking new possibilities through payment technology,”
said Cyril Han, CEO of Ant Group.
Eight years of the UEFA and Ant Group partnership
Over the past eight years, UEFA and Ant Group have worked to expand mobile payment options for football supporters and connect the UEFA European Championship with audiences through digital payment platforms.
The organisations have also collaborated on initiatives such as the Top Scorer Awards to promote greater accessibility to football.
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by UEFA
