Business Wire

ALIPAY

12.6.2019 16:24:11 CEST | Business Wire | Press release

Share
UEFA Reinvents Digital Fan Engagement in China Through Alipay

UEFA has announced a new exciting partnership with Alipay, the world’s leading payment and lifestyle platform, which is aimed at reinventing fan engagement experiences and bringing Chinese fans of European national team football even closer to the action than ever before.

The partnership comprises a UEFA lifestyle account that offers unparalleled insights into European national team competitions, as well as a mini-program where Chinese fans can apply for tickets in a simplified way to the upcoming EURO 2020. Both features are accessible within the Alipay app, the world’s most-used mobile app outside social apps. 1

The collaboration is the first of its kind for an international sports organization. The lifestyle account will act as a content hub for Chinese fans of national team football in Europe. Visitors to the platform will have the chance to read about all the latest developments in UEFA’s National Team competitions, as well being able to view exclusive content.

To complement Chinese fans’ digital experiences, the UEFA EURO 2020 ticketing mini-program - the first time that UEFA allows a digital ticketing channel outside UEFA.com worldwide - will be launched on the same day. Chinese fans can start applying for tickets from June 13.

“There is a real appetite amongst Chinese football fans for UEFA’s national team competitions, where they have the chance to see some of the best players on the planet in action,” said UEFA's director of marketing Guy-Laurent Epstein. “We want to be in a position to give our fans premium content in their own language and our new partnerships with Alipay allow us to do exactly this.”

The digital fan engagement solutions build on the existing partnership between UEFA and Alipay. In November 2018, the Chinese payment platform signed an unprecedented eight-year deal to become UEFA’s Official Global Payment Partner, Official Global Digital Wallet and Official Global FinTech Partner, for men’s national team events till 2026.

“We feel extremely delighted to be able to provide an innovative and inclusive solution in digital fan engagement, providing Chinese fans with more native experiences,” said Sabrina Peng, Chief Marketing Officer at Ant Financial. “Alipay has accumulated vast experiences in using mini-programs as a powerful tool to enable businesses in China and around the world. It is exciting to see the application being extended to football. We look forward to deepening the integration between football and technology in our partnership with UEFA in the next few years.”

Mini programs2 are light-apps that can be launched instantly on a main app interface, instead of having to be downloaded separately as native apps. They offer users faster access to various services as they can run from within the main app on any mobile operating system. There are more than 230 million active users accessing Alipay mini-programs daily for a variety of services ranging from finance and education to medical and transportation.

Over the next 12 months, UEFA will roll out a number of engaging and interactive digital activations and promotions on Alipay, which will bring Chinese and Asian fans closer to top European national team football than ever before.

About UEFA

UEFA – the Union of European Football Associations – is the governing body of European football. It is an association of associations, a representative democracy, and is the umbrella organisation for 55 national football associations across Europe. Its objectives are, among other things, to deal with all questions relating to European football, to promote football in a spirit of unity, solidarity, peace, understanding and fair play, without any discrimination on the part of politics, race, religion, gender or any other reason, to safeguard the values of European football, promote and protect ethical standards and good governance in European football, maintain relations with all stakeholders involved in European football, and support and safeguard its member associations for the overall well-being of the European game.

About Alipay

Operated by Ant Financial Services Group, Alipay is the world’s leading payment and lifestyle platform. Launched in 2004, Alipay currently serves over 1 billion users with its local e-wallets partners. Over the years, Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler. Users can hail a taxi, book a hotel, buy movie tickets, pay utility bills, make appointments with doctors, or purchase wealth management products directly from within the app. In addition to online payments, Alipay is expanding to in-store offline payments both inside and outside of China. Alipay’s in-store payment service covers over 50 countries and regions across the world, and tax reimbursement via Alipay is supported in 35 countries and regions. Alipay works with over 250 overseas financial institutions and payment solution providers to enable cross-border payments for Chinese travelling overseas and overseas customers who purchase products from Chinese e-commerce sites. Alipay currently supports 27 currencies.

1 Source: The State of Mobile 2019 , by App Annie
2 Further read on Alipay mini programs.

Contact:

Media Enquiries: Alipay Jing Yang yj196672@alipay.com +86 14716036560

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com

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

NIPPON KINZOKU Accelerates Global Sales of Ultra-Thin Electrical Steel Strips "GT Series" and "ST Series" as "Fine Eco Metal" Environmentally Friendly Products9.7.2026 10:01:00 CEST | Press release

- Delivering the ultimate balance of “Ultra-Thinness” and “Low Core Loss” to drastically reduce high-frequency energy loss - NIPPON KINZOKU CO., LTD. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Yasushi Shimokawa; TOKYO: 5491) and its subsidiary, NIKKIN DENJI KOGYO CO., LTD. (Headquarters: Kawaguchi, Saitama; President: Akira Nishimura), are launching a strategic sales initiative for their ultra-thin Grain-Oriented (GT Series) and Non-Oriented (ST Series) electrical steel strips under the brand name "Fine Eco Metal". This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260709899733/en/ By reducing the thickness of the electrical steel strip, eddy current loss (core loss) can be significantly lowered. Eddy currents are electrical currents generated within the electrical steel strip by alternating magnetic fields; they are a primary factor that increases core loss. "Fine Eco Metal" is a brand name for our proprietary "Eco-Product" se

3E Acquires Yordas Group: Expanding Leadership in Product Compliance by Augmenting 3E’s Global Regulatory Content and Expertise, and Adding REACH Registration Services9.7.2026 10:00:00 CEST | Press release

3E, the leading global provider of expert-led AI compliance solutions for chemical and workplace safety, product stewardship, and sustainable supply chains, today announced its acquisition of Yordas Group, a leading international provider of scientific consulting and regulatory content services across chemical management, product stewardship, sustainability, and regulatory compliance. Headquartered in Lancaster, UK, with operations in Germany, Canada, Türkiye, and Japan, Yordas serves global brands through its Scientific Services, Regulatory Intelligence, Product Compliance, and Hazard Communication offerings. Solidifying 3E’s Global Regulatory Content Leadership and Breadth of Expertise The acquisition extends 3E's regulatory content leadership and joins two organizations that pride themselves on building and aligning the industry’s top talent of advanced regulatory and chemical experts. It further solidifies 3E as the product compliance solution provider with the industry's broadest

ROYC and PwC Sweden Collaborate to Digitalize Private Equity Structuring & Fund Operations9.7.2026 10:00:00 CEST | Press release

ROYC today announces a strategic collaboration with PwC Sweden to accelerate the digitalization of the GP value chain. The partnership brings together PwC Sweden's market-leading expertise in fund formation and structuring with ROYC’s platform capabilities, with the shared aim of compressing time-to-market, eliminating manual friction in early-phase workflows, and improving the client experience across the full fund lifecycle for fund managers operating across any jurisdiction. "Digitalization of fund operations is overdue. We work alongside fund managers on structuring decisions, regulatory requirements, and operational complexity every day, and the inefficiencies in the early phase are real and costly. What excites me about this collaboration is the practical ambition behind it: taking the knowledge we apply manually today and making it available through a platform that GPs can use from day one. Working directly with the ROYC team in Stockholm makes iteration fast, and the applicatio

Hytera Introduces PDC580 Dual-Mode Rugged Radio to Support Seamless Communication Across Critical Operations9.7.2026 09:25:00 CEST | Press release

Hytera, a leading global provider of critical communications technologies and solutions, announced the launch of the PDC580 Dual-Mode Rugged Radio, developed for organizations that continue to rely on PMR while expanding broadband communications across increasingly distributed operations. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260708879078/en/ Built to connect LTE and PMR, the Hytera PDC580 brings dual-mode communication into one compact rugged radio. “The transition from narrowband to broadband is not an overnight replacement,” said Arthur Luo, Product Manager of Hytera Smart Terminal BU. “Many organizations will operate mixed communication environments for years to come. The PDC580 is designed to make that transition seamless, allowing teams to stay connected without changing established operational workflows.” Many frontline operations involve personnel working across different locations, departments, and network

LR Invests Over €2 Million in Quality and Growth9.7.2026 09:00:00 CEST | Press release

Global demand for innovative health products continues to grow, and with it the requirements for quality, supply reliability and production capacity. LR Health & Beauty is therefore strengthening its Ahlen headquarters with an investment of more than €2 million, laying the foundation for further growth. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260709000261/en/ New, state-of-the-art production line in Ahlen, Germany, manufacturing LR 5in1 Beauty Elixir and LR 5in1 Men's Shot. At the heart of the investment is a new, state-of-the-art production line. LR will use it to fully consolidate the manufacturing of its successful 5-in-1 products at its Ahlen headquarters. This includes, among others, the LR 5in1 Beauty Elixir and the LR 5in1 Men’s Shot. At the same time, the new facility creates the conditions for future product innovations in modern nutritional supplement concepts. By bringing the complete production of its 5-in

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
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye