Trophy tour finishes with flourish in Belgrade

Three days of sun in Belgrade provided a brilliant climax to a resoundingly successful 2011 UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour, presented by UniCredit.

Between Friday and Sunday, the splendid weather in the Serbian capital helped entice a total of 11,350 visitors to the exhibition to savour the atmosphere, take photos and be close to the trophy that the world's best players want to win.

Three renowned former players were present for the fans and the media to ensure that the autumn trophy tour ended on a high:

• UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour Ambassador Ruud Gullit, the Dutch ace who enjoyed glory with AC Milan in Europe's elite club competition in 1989 and 1990;
• UniCredit Ambassador for the UEFA Champions League, Portuguese star Luís Figo, a winner with Real Madrid CF in 2002;
• UniCredit Bank Ambassador for Serbia, local hero Stevan Stojanović, the goalkeeper who brandished the trophy with FK Crvena zvezda as a penalty shoot-out hero in 1991.

Following a lively press conference attended by 65 journalists, the ribbon to the trophy tour tent was cut to start the activities, and the ambassadors posed for photographs and signed autographs. The outdoor football pitch on the site was in permanent use by youngsters, and Ruud Gullit awarded prizes at an event organised by the Cross Cultures Project Association (CCPA) – one of UEFA's core social responsibility partners.

"Being here is a great feeling," said Stevan Stojanović. "I think we have presented the trophy in a magnificent way. As a former player and captain of a team that won the trophy, I always had this wish to win it.

"[Crvena zvezda] won the trophy in 1991 but none of us was aware of how huge the success was for us, for our country and for our club," he added. "However, 20 years on the trophy is in Belgrade once again, and today I am aware of how big the success was – for Serbia, for [Crvena zvezda] and for me. I am really happy because of it."

The 2011 trophy tour has attracted huge crowds along the way in St Petersburg and Moscow (Russia), Kyiv and Donetsk (Ukraine), and now Belgrade. The tour was launched to bring a once-in-a-lifetime football experience to the home towns of people who, in many cases, never have the chance to attend a UEFA Champions League game. As such, it is an opportunity to discover the competition's rich history, magic moments, legendary clubs and players – and for fans to see and have their photo taken with one of sport's most coveted trophies.

UEFA's objectives for the tour also include encouraging people to play football and to learn about key UEFA values such as Respect, the campaign against racism, as well as grassroots and educational activities.

UEFA supplies the tour with a comprehensive collection of memorabilia from the European game's glorious past, and a mini-pitch is set up at venues to enable the organisation of grassroots events and mini-tournaments.