Ad hoc partnerships

UEFA's social responsibility portfolio includes several limited-term, ad hoc partnerships:

Homeless World Cup – integration of marginalised groups
The Homeless World Cup uses football to encourage homeless people to change their own lives and also to draw attention to the problems of homelessness around the world.

• It supports grassroots football programmes in over 70 nations involving 100,000 players since 2003.
• Founded by world-leading social entrepreneur Mel Young, it has been supported by UEFA since the beginning, with its global ambassador, Eric Cantona, and international footballers Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand also on board.
• After the 2009 event in Milan, Rio hosted the 2010 tournament and Paris played host in 2011.

WWF – environment
Founded in 1961, the WWF is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organisations, with a global network active in more than 100 countries focused on safeguarding the planet's extraordinary wildlife species and their habitats.

• UEFA held a 'Panda Ball' gala dinner at the 2008 UEFA Super Cup in Monaco, where the funds raised went towards the WWF's work on conserving Europe's biodiversity.
• Ahead of the 2009 UN climate conference in Copenhagen, the WWF sought to raise awareness with an Earth Hour campaign. On 28 March that year WWF partners around the world – including UEFA – turned off their lights for an hour as a sign of support for climate action. Football was the leading sports contributor globally. UEFA also joined in the following Earth Hour campaigns in 2010 and 2011.
• UEFA and its carbon compensation:
UEFA's major source of greenhouse gas emissions is air travel – its carbon footprint from flights in 2007 was 20,617.811 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e). This is comparable to approximately 2,850,000,000 footballs filled with carbon dioxide. On 1 July 2009, it began a one-year emissions reduction trial, consisting primarily of purchasing internationally recognised renewable energy carbon credits.

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) – anti-landmine campaigning and rehabilitation
The ICRC's mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of war and internal violence and to provide them with assistance.

• UEFA began working with the ICRC when it supported its anti-landmine campaign in 1997.
• The joint Let us Play campaign during UEFA EURO 2004 focused on the protection of children in war.
• For UEFA EURO 2008, the European football body organised an online fundraising campaign, Score for the Red Cross, in support of a rehabilitation programme for landmine victims in Afghanistan and other national Red Cross and Red Crescent projects. Cristiano Ronaldo was its principal ambassador.
• Football fans were encouraged to buy virtual goals at a price of €1 on behalf of their team and UEFA donated €4,000 for each of the 77 actual goals scored. More than €500,000 was raised and Germany won the competition with more than 85,000 virtual goals scored by their fans.
• Spain midfielder Xavi Hernández donated the uefa.com users' Team of the Year 2008 award of €100,000 to the campaign. He was followed by subsequent Team of the Year captains and FC Barcelona team-mates Lionel Messi in 2009 and Carles Puyol in 2010. 

International Platform on Sport and Development
The Swiss Academy for Development (SAD) established the International Platform on Sport and Development website in 2003. UEFA supports the website because it serves as a leading online resource for all involved in sport and development, providing access to detailed information about existing projects and activities, and fostering dialogue. The questions addressed on the website include the focal points of UEFA's football and social responsibility programme:

• Combating racism, xenophobia, homophobia and violence.
• Promoting reconciliation, peace and football for people with disabilities.
• Addressing health issues and humanitarian aid.