adidas joins as Official Ball Supplier for the European Qualifiers

011 - Partnership expands adidas’ involvement across all of UEFA’s competitions

UEFA and adidas today announced an expansion of their partnership to include the European Qualifiers running from 2014 to 2017. With this announcement, adidas - which is already an Official Partner of UEFA EURO 2016 in France - now acquire the right to be the official match ball supplier in connection with the European Qualifiers for the forthcoming three years. The rights relate to the qualifying matches for UEFA EURO 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and underlines adidas’ commitment to, and involvement in all UEFA’s competitions.

This rights package offered by UEFA was made possible by the recent centralisation of commercial rights. Through the new “Week of Football” concept, qualifying matches will be spread over several days, giving fans the opportunity to watch more matches than ever before. The endorsement of such an established global brand serves to confirm the potential of this initiative. Following the announcements of Carlsberg, Socar and Continental as Official Partners, adidas joins the programme as the Official Ball Supplier. With the European Qualifiers due to begin in September, UEFA can expect to see other commercial partners coming on board in the coming months.

Commenting on the partnership agreement, Guy-Laurent Epstein, Marketing Director of UEFA Events SA, said:

“As a long-standing partner of UEFA whose equipment has been tried and tested for decades across the biggest stages in football, adidas are the ideal company to have on board as the Official Ball Supplier for the European Qualifiers. We look forward to them being at the heart of the action once the matches kick-off in September this year.”

Claus-Peter Mayer, Vice President Global Sports Marketing Football of adidas, said:

“adidas are committed to the development of global football and are delighted to be reaffirming our presence across the European national team game by becoming the official match ball supplier for the European Qualifiers. With the new move towards centralisation, we are delighted that our world class products will be at the heart of the competition from day one.”

Note to editors:

UEFA Events SA is a wholly owned subsidiary of UEFA, created to handle the European football governing body's commercial and event operations.

CAA Eleven is the exclusive marketing agency of UEFA appointed to manage commercial rights to UEFA national team competitions, including the UEFA European Football Championship, UEFA European Under-21 Championship, UEFA European Women’s Championship, UEFA European Futsal Championship and the European Qualifiers.