By Andrew Warshaw in Amsterdam
May 16 – However fortuitous Chelsea were in their Europa League victory over Benfica on Wednesday night, behind the scenes tournament sponsors Western Union were celebrating their own special landmark. Commercial partners traditionally deliver all kinds of reasons, some more credible than others, for getting into bed with football to enhance their brand awareness. But sometimes a campaign looks such an obvious fit, it seems destined for immediate success.
Western Union may be known as the market leader when it comes to wiring money around the world – more than 500,000 agent locations in over 200 countries – but if you think financial profit is the only reason for the company’s three-year backing of the Europa League, think again.
When Chelsea lifted the trophy at the state-of-the-art Amsterdam Arena, much to the gut-wrenching disappointment of Benfica’s crestfallen players and far louder and more passionate fans, just as significant was culmination of the first season of Western Union’s PASS initiative, one of most innovative football partnerships undertaken.
Every pass made by every player taking part in the tournament over three seasons – the one just completed and the next two – equates to one day’s education for children in 11 hand-picked countries.
The PASS initiative is fronted by former French international Patrick Vieira, who was born in Senegal, one of the first countries that will benefit from the programme.
In the buildup to kickoff on Wednesday, ambassadors Vieira and former Dutch icon Patrick Kluivert kicked balls into a giant black and yellow football globe that took pride of place outside the stadium as, together with American Olympic women’s goalkeeper Hope Solo, they helped promote a project which Western Union believes gives them a unique philanthropic place in the sometimes cut-throat world of commercial sponsorship.
“Where I come from, opportunities for a quality education are rare,” explained Vieira, who played for Arsenal, AC Milan, Juventus, Inter Milan and Manchester City during an illustrious career and is currently football development executive at City. “Football was my ticket to success, but for the vast majority of young people, education is the key that allows them to become whatever they want to be. That’s why I support this campaign.”
The Europa League may be regarded in some quarters as the poorer sister of the Champions League but Western Union, which caters for millions of customers in all walks of life, quickly identified its potential as an obvious fit for its motto, Moving Money For Better.
“It’s not the poorer sister as far as we are concerned,” Hikmet Ersek, Western Union’s Turkish President and CEO told InsideWorldFootball as the number of passes made by players during this season’s competition officially passed the 178,000 mark during Wednesday’s final.
“It makes so much sense,” says Ersek, a former professional basketball player. “The Champions League may be the super competition but it’s limited to a certain number of teams. The Europa League covers a far greater territory and is a perfect fit for us in terms of our global reach and engaging our customers. We do 28 transactions per second. Of course brand awareness is the commercial part but education is the key to success in everything if you really want to change the world. We are building a story. There are around 60 million kids worldwide who can’t afford to go to school.”
The actual on-the-ground delivery of turning the Pass initiative into funding is being carried out by UNICEF which will initially focus on education programmes in Nigeria, Jamaica and Turkey. Tim Hunter, International Fundraising Director at UNICEF, said: “We are proud to work with Western Union to help more children access a quality education and transform their lives.”
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