The UEFA EURO 2028 Innovation Programme: Empowering volunteers and engaging communities across the UK and Ireland

 

Context 🧩

UEFA EURO 2028 will bring together one of the largest volunteer workforces ever assembled for a football tournament in Europe, with every role carrying meaningful responsibility. Through these experiences, volunteers rapidly develop valuable skills in communication, teamwork, adaptability and decision-making. The challenge is how to better surface, evidence and connect those skills in ways that volunteers can carry forward, whether into employment, community involvement or grassroots football. Employability is a potential outcome, not the programme's stated goal.

Today, the volunteer journey is focused primarily on operational delivery, and opportunities for learning, personal development and formal recognition are not yet embedded in a structured way. Though the infrastructure to change this already exists – the volunteer programme runs on a UEFA centralised platform – what is missing is a layer that moves the experience from operational to developmental.

What we're looking for📍

• Skills recognition that volunteers can actually use: Transferable and portable solutions that map their role to recognised skills.
• A development thread through the whole volunteer journey: Solutions that create value all the way from application through to post-tournament.
• Pathways into continued involvement: Solutions that help volunteers stay connected to football and their communities after the tournament, whether through a local club, a national association programme, community organisation or a network of fellow volunteers.
• Designed for a diverse group: Solutions that give every volunteer, regardless of age, background or life stage, something tangible and genuinely valuable to take away.

UEFA and UK&I 2028 are looking to pilot solutions with real volunteer cohorts ahead of the tournament and are not looking for training providers or course designers.

Context 🧩

The UEFA EURO 2028 community programme will come to life through inclusive events, activations and gatherings designed for people who would not normally engage with a major football tournament, while the official fan festival, staged in the eight host cities, offers further opportunities to create a positive and lasting impact on local audiences who are not yet football fans.

In parallel, the tournament will reach millions of people digitally, via live broadcasts, the official website, app, fan pass, gaming ecosystem and streaming services – but almost all of these individuals are already football fans.

UEFA and UK&I 2028 are looking to pilot solutions that engage new and diverse audiences by giving them an attractive and accessible EURO 2028 experience, fostering a sense of belonging in the context of the tournament.

What we're looking for📍

Solutions can be digital, physical, or a combination of both. Digital solutions should build on UEFA's existing digital ecosystem. Physical activations should complement UK&I 2028’s community programme and/or UEFA's fan festival. Priority will be given to solutions that reach new audiences, rather than fans already likely to engage with the tournament.

Key considerations for all solutions

• Community enabler: Solutions that help people find and connect with local community organisations and social impact projects, not just UEFA content.
• A custom experience for all audiences: Solutions that create customised or personalised experiences depending on the audience profile, reflecting the diversity of users' demographics and cultural context.

Key considerations for physical activations

• High engagement, low barriers: Proposals that are inclusive and engaging without requiring prior football knowledge from users.
• Divergent thinking: The UEFA fan festival and community programme already deliver a wide range of football-focused activations, so proposals should put forward a new approach to audience engagement.

Key considerations for digital solutions

• A simple, welcoming entry point: Users must have instant, engaging and useful mobile access in under a minute.
• White-label integration: Solutions must integrate within UEFA's ecosystem – the official EURO 2028 app, website, fan pass and gaming environment – rather than standalone tools, driving users into UEFA-owned platforms and, where relevant, the UK&I 2028 Community Hub.

Selected innovators may receive funding from a programme budget of up to £200,000. Funding contributions will be made at UEFA's discretion and may be distributed across one or multiple projects.

Applicants should request funding proportionate to the scope, maturity and expected impact of their solution, while outlining any additional financial or in-kind support. Further details, including funding requirements and supporting documentation, can be provided during the application process.

Selected innovators can benefit from exclusive access to experimental grounds facilitated through UEFA and UK&I 2028's affiliations with host cities, national associations, local authorities and other tournament stakeholders.

Selected innovators will receive mentorship from experienced industry professionals.

Selected innovators will participate in a series of workshops to engage with the programme stakeholders and gain valuable insights on their projects.

Selected innovators connect with football and tournament stakeholders, creating collaboration opportunities and avenues for growth.

Selected innovators have the opportunity to present their pilot project and its outcomes at a dedicated showcase event.

Selected innovators will enjoy heightened visibility and a spotlight on their work, with the potential to impact future UEFA events.

The UEFA EURO 2028 Innovation Programme is open to organisations and innovators that can deliver impactful, scalable solutions to the challenges set out above, through a tangible product or service with an innovative approach. Innovation can live within the application, approach or technology itself.

The programme is open to, but not limited to, start-ups, academia, non-profits or charities, research centres, and cross-industry technology providers.

At the time of application, applicants must have developed a minimum viable product (MVP) and/or be able to demonstrate proven use cases of their solution in an operational environment.

The proposed solution has the potential to create lasting value beyond UEFA EURO 2028 for volunteers, communities, or both, and includes a clear way of measuring that impact.

The proposed solution brings an innovative approach to creating value for stakeholders involved in the delivery of the programme, and the project team shows a deep understanding of the challenge, clearly demonstrating how their solution addresses it.

The team has the relevant skills, experience and expertise to deliver the proposed pilot project, working within existing UEFA and UK&I 2028 infrastructure rather than adding to operational workload. The pilot draws on insights and resources from stakeholders involved in the project to address the identified challenge.

The proposed solution is designed for the full diversity of volunteers and communities involved in UEFA EURO 2028, rather than a single audience segment, and is accessible regardless of background or prior connection to football.

The proposed solution can generate learnings as a possible replicable blueprint for future UEFA events, with the potential to scale effectively, reach broader audiences, expand impact over time and leave a legacy. Scalability is assessed in terms of technology, operations, market reach, and resource allocation.