UEFA EURO 2024 raises €31,500 for the UEFA Foundation for Children
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
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Identified using adidas Connected Ball technology, the Fussballliebe Finale ball with which Mikel Oyarzabal scored the winning goal in the UEFA EURO 2024 final was sold on Catawiki, with all proceeds going to the UEFA Foundation for Children.
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Mikel Oyarzabal’s 86th-minute winner clinched a record fourth men's UEFA EURO title for Spain following a pulsating final against England in Berlin on 14 July – and the very ball with which the winning goal was scored, signed by the match winner himself, was sold at auction on behalf of the UEFA Foundation for Children last week - raising €31,500 for a good cause.
Adidas’ Connected Ball technology, which made its UEFA EURO debut this summer, enabled European football’s governing body to track each of the 60 Fussballliebe Finale balls during the UEFA EURO 2024 final, and for the first time in a UEFA EURO final, the exact ball with which the winning goal was scored was identified.
The winning bidder not only gets their hands on ball number 17/60, signed by Oyarzabal, but also adidas’ new match ball plinth made of anodised aluminium in the shape of a triangular prism containing 54 triangles that represent each national association that took part in the 2024 edition of the UEFA European Championship (qualifying included).
The ball was part of a larger lot that containing numerous collectible UEFA items - all of which were auctioned to raise funds for the UEFA Foundation for Children - listed exclusively on Catawiki, an online marketplace for special objects that fulfil people’s passions.
The UEFA Foundation for Children aims to help children and defend their rights, for example through sport and football. It provides support in the areas of health, education, access to sport, personal development, integration of minorities and employability.
The foundation, a public utility body under Swiss law, was created and started its activities on 24 April 2015. Since then, the foundation has invested €51 million in 500 projects in 135 countries worldwide. More than 2.6 million children have benefited from the foundation's work since its creation.