UEFA will have a new partner – Italian kit suppliers Erreà – for its Kit Assistance Scheme for Europe’s national associations for the period between 2022 and 2026. Nations currently benefitting from the program include Andorra, Belarus, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and San Marino.
The partnership
will ensure that all of UEFA’s national associations who join the Kit
Assistance Scheme will have access to customised training wear and matchday
clothing for their senior and Under-21 national teams.
Erreà Sport were
chosen through a tender process which emphasised criteria such as price,
quality, range, kit personalisation, logistics and merchandising opportunities.
The company are one of the world’s most
innovative teamwear manufacturers, and are currently working with over 300
clubs and associations around the world and across a wide variety of sporting
disciplines. Erreà has also obtained the
Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certification on all articles, and has earned plaudits
for research and development activities in relation to new fabric such as the
recently presented antiviral and antibacteric fabric Ti-Energy.
Associations who
take advantage of UEFA’s Kit Assistance Scheme will be fully involved in the
kit design process with Erreà. The partnership will be based on
supplying national team kits to associations that are not only of the highest
standards in terms of design, quality and comfort, but which also reflect
national identity.
UEFA’s Kit Assistance Scheme has been in
operation since 2007, and is run under the auspices of UEFA’s Top Executive Programme
(TEP). It has a special relevance as part of UEFA’s fervent support of
national-team football.
National teams are a crucial source of a
country’s national identity, and they unite fans from throughout a country in
support of the team.
“Football players across Europe relish
the honour of wearing their national team shirt,” said UEFA President
Aleksander Čeferin. “And fans stand together with their team and
identify with the players by also donning the shirt. Through our Kit Assistance Scheme, we are not only emphasising UEFA’s
strong commitment towards our member associations, a relationship which is a
cornerstone of European football,” he added. “We are also underlining our firm determination to foster
national team football and promote its importance.”
In particular, the partnership between UEFA and Erreà will benefit smaller and medium-sized national associations without sufficient bargaining power when negotiating with kit suppliers. Based on actual need and voluntary participation, these associations will get the kits and other training wear for their senior and U-21 teams free of charge from UEFA..
“Everyone at Erreà is both delighted and excited about the announcement that we are the new official partner to UEFA for their Kit Assistance Programme from 2022 to 2026,” said Fabrizio Taddei, Erreà’s head of Global Partnership Department. “Along with everyone who will be involved with this programme, I am looking forward to the four-year partnership with genuine excitement.”
“Erreà will bring to this programme over 30 years of partnership
experience with clubs and federations at the highest domestic and international
levels,” Taddei added. “All of which will be used to provide each and every
country involved with a unique and individual look, both on and off the field
of play.”
The UEFA Kit Assistance Scheme is purely about assistance, and not about
sponsorship, and is tailored for associations who need such help in this area.
“We
fully understand the importance of the Kit Assistance Scheme, both to UEFA as a
governing body and to all the individual countries that are involved in it,”
said Taddei.
“Thanks
to the fact that all of the custom designed clothing that Erreà produces is
designed and manufactured in Europe, this is a truly European programme, and
offers the opportunity for every association to be closely involved with the
process, from start to finish.”