Coca-Cola signs for EURO 2012, 2016

UEFA and Coca-Cola today announced an extension to their long-term sponsorship agreement during a special ceremony at the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland – scene of the recent UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying draw on 7 February.

UEFA and Coca-Cola officially signed the agreement which will cover all competitions listed under the UEFA EUROTOP programme – and headed by UEFA EURO 2012 and UEFA EURO 2016 – until 2017. Coca-Cola therefore becomes the third global partner for UEFA's flagship national-team competition, the UEFA European Championship, following on from the previous announcement of agreements with adidas and Castrol.

As part of its sponsorship deal, which also features integrated broadcast sponsorship rights in Europe, Coca-Cola will continue to offer football fans sole and exclusive programmes such as 'flag bearers' and 'ultimate access'. In addition, Coca-Cola will benefit from exclusive marketing rights for non-alcoholic beverages in official premises of the competitions.

"Our long partnership with UEFA has proven to be very successful and we are proud to officially announce its renewal," said Dirk Veryser, business unit president of Coca-Cola Northern Central Europe. "I'm happy that for the first time in history an event like UEFA EURO 2012 will be organised in this part of the world. The event offers Coca-Cola a unique opportunity to refresh and share the joy of football with millions of fans as well as strengthen our position on the non-alcoholic beverage market in Poland and Ukraine," he added.

Commenting on the announcement, David Taylor, CEO of UEFA Events SA, said: "The commitment of Coca-Cola to sponsor UEFA EURO 2012 and all our EUROTOP competitions is a further vote of confidence in the tournaments we organise and we are delighted to continue our long-standing relationship with Coca-Cola."

UEFA Events SA is a wholly owned subsidiary of UEFA and has been created to manage and handle the European governing body's commercial and event operations. As well as UEFA EURO 2012 and UEFA EURO 2016, the UEFA EUROTOP programme incorporates other national-team competitions such as the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017), the UEFA European Women's Championship (2013 and 2017) and the UEFA European Futsal Championship (2012, 2014 and 2016).

Further global sponsorship agreements are expected to be made imminently.