With UEFA EURO 2024 set to captivate fans worldwide, we look at how the tournament’s impact will drive the game forward on and off the field.
With UEFA EURO 2024 set to captivate fans worldwide, we look at how the tournament’s impact will drive the game forward on and off the field.
Since 2004, the men’s European Championship has not only been a celebration of football at its finest but a vital source of funding for the development of the sport across the continent.
Through the UEFA HatTrick development programme, around two-thirds of the revenue generated by the tournament is reinvested into Europe’s 55 national associations, funding projects that build pitches and stadiums, train coaches, referees and administrators, and develop education and development strategies to ensure the game continues to grow in quality and appeal.
EURO 2024 will create a projected €935 million for the HatTrick programme over the next four years, a 21% increase from EURO 2020, ensuring the game will continue to reach new levels.
“While there is no single secret ingredient behind HatTrick’s success, several pivotal factors contribute to its effectiveness. These include partnership and collaboration, transparency and accountability, adaptability and flexibility, and a global perspective.”
Leading facilities
One of the most significant ways in which HatTrick has transformed the European football landscape is through investment in infrastructure. By helping associations build new facilities and modernise existing ones, HatTrick has helped to level the playing field and strengthen the footballing pyramid across the continent.
Albania’s new national stadium was partly funded by the UEFA HatTrick programme.
At the very top level, HatTrick funding has contributed to the construction or development of 35 national stadiums, meaning more than 60% of national football grounds in Europe have been built or modernised thanks to the programme. This includes improvements in player and spectator safety, as well as improving accessibility for people with disabilities.
Case study: Georgia
To complement these stadiums, HatTrick investment has also helped construct 34 national training centres. The most recent of these can be found at first-time EURO final tournament qualifiers Georgia, where HatTrick funding contributed to the construction of five national training centres in the build-up to the European Under-21 Championship finals, co-hosted with Romania in the summer of 2023.
“The legacy of the tournament will be invaluable for Georgian football,” says Levan Kobiashvili, president of the Georgian Football Federation. “The newly built and renovated high-quality training and playing facilities are already serving to develop the domestic game.” The results have already started to pay off as the country prepares for its participation in Germany this summer.
Looking further down the pyramid, HatTrick has funded thousands of playing pitches across the continent, ensuring everyone is given the chance to play football, regardless of where they live. More than 1,000 full-size and 3,000 mini-pitches have been constructed with HatTrick funding since 2004, an average of more than 70 pitches per UEFA member association.
Accelerating development
Infrastructure is obviously an important aspect of HatTrick’s impact, but the scheme also recognises the need to invest in the action on the pitch, not just the pitch itself. Over its 20 years of existence, HatTrick has funded more than 700 women’s football development programmes, with nearly 60% of those projects creating new opportunities for women and girls to get into football. UEFA’s investment in women’s football has jumped by 50% since 2019, and HatTrick has played an important part in that increase.
Italy’s Calcio+15 programme for elite youth players benefits from HatTrick funding.
More than 400 elite youth football projects have also been funded by HatTrick, helping associations develop talent pathways and raise the standards of youth coaching, while giving players the opportunity to compete at a higher level earlier in their careers. The Football in Schools programme, meanwhile, has reached 2.4 million children in more than 44,000 schools, with 100,000 teachers given training to deliver football training sessions.
Broader impact
Away from the pitch, HatTrick has funded more than 500 social and environmental projects, helping to leverage football’s influence as a wider force for good. As part of these efforts to tackle football’s climate impact, recent HatTrick-funded schemes have addressed waste reduction, renewable energy transition, sustainable construction, and public transport uptake, among many others. Socially, HatTrick has funded projects aimed at eliminating discrimination, improving mental health, supporting refugees, safeguarding children, and many more.
When HatTrick was launched in 2004, few would have foreseen the depth and breadth of its impact on the European football landscape over the next 20 years. The sixth cycle of HatTrick will undoubtedly be bigger and better than ever, and with it, so will football.