Visa continues to champion women’s football with €50,000 UEFA Foundation for Children donation

• Visa to make €50,000 donation at this weekend’s UEFA Women’s Champions League final
• Winner of the Player of the Match Award can choose which project will receive the donation
• UEFA Foundation for Children supports 245 humanitarian and development projects globally

LONDON, UK – August 27, 2020 – Today, Visa (NYSE: V) announced a €50,000 donation to the UEFA Foundation for Children as part of its Player Of The Match Award activation at this weekend’s Women’s Champions League Final in San Sebastián.

For the second year running, Visa will celebrate individual excellence in women’s football by presenting the Player of the Match Award following Sunday’s final match.

This year, Visa will go one step further by giving the recipient of the award the opportunity to choose one of the 245 projects supported by the UEFA Foundation for Children to receive the to receive the €50,000 donation from Visa. The foundation uses football as a springboard to empower and improve the prospects of children around the world, through setting up a number of educational projects to give children a safe place to learn and play.

“There has never been a more important time to stand alongside women footballers, and throughout this year we have continued to strengthen our ongoing commitment to supporting the women’s game at all levels,” explains Adrian Farina, Head of Marketing, Visa Europe. “We’re very proud of what we’ve already achieved through our partnership with UEFA Women’s Football and thanks to the support of the UEFA Foundation for Children, we look forward to continuing this by directly supporting those using football for good.”

“This is a wonderful initiative by Visa to give the Player of the Match from Sunday’s final between VfL Wolfsburg and Olympique Lyonnais, the opportunity to make a potentially life-changing gesture,” said Nadine Kessler, UEFA’s chief of women’s football. “Football has the power to initiate positive change, by giving girls confidence, resilience and important life skills. This is why I am so delighted that through the UEFA Foundation for Children, this final will have a lasting legacy in helping to improve the lives of youngsters.”

Urs Kluser, UEFA Foundation for Children General Secretary, added “The UEFA Foundation for Children aims to improve the lives of youngsters across the globe and we are delighted to be teaming up with Visa, as together, we can help even more disadvantaged children. Footballers are role models to children and Sunday’s Player of the Match could become something even greater. By choosing the project which will receive the funding, this player will have helped improve the lives of hundreds, possibly thousands of disadvantaged youngsters.”

Throughout this year, Visa has remained committed to supporting and raising the profile women’s football across Europe, offering business training and digital profiling to help inspire other young female footballers. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Visa also provided additional support to Team Visa European women footballers by offering an adapted version of the internal Visa University Resilience training.

To find out more about Visa’s work in championing women’s football, visit the Visa Blog.

About Visa Inc.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digital commerce on any device for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit  About Visa,visa.com/blog and @VisaNewsEurope.

# # #