BLACKHOUSE-MEDIA
11.5.2022 09:01:09 CEST | 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/
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.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220509006222/en/
About Business Wire
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
Azul Addresses the Java Runtime Security Blind Spot Autonomous AI Can Now Exploit17.6.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Launches free JVM vulnerability risk assessment to give enterprises estate visibility before AI threat actors find the gaps Azul, the trusted leader in enterprise Java for today’s AI and cloud-first world, today launched a free JVM vulnerability risk assessment to address the blind spot that autonomous AI exploitation tools are increasingly able to find. With mean time to exploit (MTTE) collapsing from months to days or hours, the unmanaged Java estate has become an urgent enterprise security vulnerability. Azul’s assessment gives DevOps and SecOps teams complete visibility into the hidden risks embedded in the runtime of their Java estate before threat actors get there first, and is designed to complement the broader security, licensing and compliance solutions and services delivered by Azul’s trusted partners. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260617352753/en/ Azul's JVM Vulnerability Risk Assessment dashboard
Fortegra Strengthens Actuarial Leadership with Appointment of Anthony Katz as SVP, Reserving17.6.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
The Fortegra Group, Inc., a global specialty insurer, today announced the appointment of Anthony Katz as Senior Vice President, Reserving. Mr. Katz will lead Fortegra’s team of professional actuaries, with responsibility for reserving, credit insurance, statistical reporting, and key initiatives including IFRS 17. “Anthony brings more than 30 years of actuarial expertise and a genuine commitment to building the capabilities our distribution partners depend on,” said Rick Kahlbaugh, Chief Executive Officer at Fortegra. “His background across reserving, actuarial transformation, and international markets will be instrumental as we continue to support our distribution partners.” A credentialed actuary holding FCAS, FSA, and MAAA designations, Mr. Katz brings more than 30 years of experience across reserving, pricing, and actuarial transformation. He has held senior leadership roles at ToaRe, Everest Re, Arch Insurance, Ernst & Young, and ACE, and most recently served as an independent con
Hitachi Expands Its Work With OpenAI to Accelerate AI-Driven Modernization and Cybersecurity17.6.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Hitachi and OpenAI’s Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) will begin developing AI solutions for legacy system modernization, starting with financial institutions, aiming to expand across a wide range of industries. Through OpenAI’s “Trusted Access for Cyber,” Hitachi will strengthen its internal cybersecurity in practice and leverage the insights gained from this initiative to enhance its cybersecurity capabilities. Through this work, Hitachi will enhance its FDE capabilities in modernization and cybersecurity and further advance HMAX. Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501, "Hitachi") today announced that it will expand its work with OpenAI*1 to accelerate AI-driven modernization and cybersecurity. The work combines OpenAI’s frontier AI technology with Hitachi’s domain expertise and know-how in supporting mission-critical systems and social infrastructure to accelerate AI transformation (AX) for customers and society. Working together, the two companies’ FDE teams will leverage OpenAI’s AI agent “Codex”
Hologic’s New Sustainability Report Marks 40 Years of Impact17.6.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Report outlines actions helping to reduce environmental impact, advance health equity and engage a purpose-driven workforce Hologic, Inc., a global leader in women’s health, today released its 2025 Sustainability Report. The new report coincides with Hologic’s 40th anniversary and underscores how the company’s longstanding purpose — to enable healthier lives for women everywhere, every day — continues to drive progress for patients, communities and the planet. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260617160174/en/ Hologic 2025 Sustainability Report “We have always firmly believed that our success as a company is fundamentally tied to our ability and commitment to help women worldwide live healthier lives,” said Sharon Vidal, Chief Sustainability Officer at Hologic. “Together with our customers and partners, we’re taking measurable steps to increase global access to innovative medical technologies while pursuing a mo
Laprophan Completes the Acquisition of Rivopharm, Accelerating Its International Expansion Strategy17.6.2026 14:39:00 CEST | Press release
Laprophan Group, the pioneer and one of Morocco's leading pharmaceutical groups, today announced the successful completion of the acquisition of a controlling stake in Rivopharm, a Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company specialized in specialty medicines, dossier development, complex formulations and value-added pharmaceutical solutions, and operating its own industrial manufacturing site. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Rivopharm generates annual revenue of approximately US$100 million. The acquisition represents a transformational milestone in Laprophan's development and marks the Group's first acquisition in Europe. The transaction significantly strengthens Laprophan's European footprint and accelerates its ambition to build a differentiated international pharmaceutical platform spanning Europe, Africa, the Middle East and selected global markets. The acquisition was carried out through Europhan, Laprophan's Luxembourg-based European platform, reinforcin
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