Ronaldo Wins Blockchain Embedded Top Scorer Trophy at UEFA EURO 2020

Legendary football star, Cristiano Ronaldo bagged the first blockchain embedded gold trophy of the Alipay Top Scorer Awards at UEFA EURO 2020. Powered by Ant Chain, the Alipay top scorer trophies are the first major football awards to incorporate blockchain in their design, with a hash code at their base that can be used to upload and maintain the scoring records of the top three players in the championship. 

Cristiano Ronaldo Bags Blockchain-Powered Smart Trophy

Designed by Alipay, a payment and lifestyle portal run by Ant Group, the top scorer trophy aims to represent football history’s footprint on the blockchain with immutable game records. Through a hash code provided with the trophy, Alipay will register a permanent record of the top scorer’s achievements to the blockchain, preserving the players’ milestones in the process.

Eric Jing, Chairman, and CEO of Ant Group, who presented the trophy from Hangzhou via video-conferencing said the company would like to continue working with UEFA to engineer innovative solutions for the sport in the future. 

He stated, “Just as we have used blockchain technology to permanently preserve the wonderful scoring moments of the top scorers like him, we will also keep working with UEFA, to explore innovative digital solutions that improve fans’ experiences while enjoying football.”

UEFA and Ant Group inked a five-year global partnership on June 10, to collectively bring about a digital revolution in the football industry via the use of blockchain technology. As part of the agreement, AntChain became the official blockchain partner for UEFA EURO 2020.

To celebrate the players’ accomplishments, AntChain came up with a digital record that would store the highlights of the 2020 European Football Championship. The record is the first of its kind digital collectible which will be preserved at UEFA’s headquarters.

“The top-scoring moments digital collectible will serve as a lasting memento, encouraging football fans around the world to spread the team spirit and happiness that are part and parcel of this beloved sport,” Eric Jing noted.

Alipay Helming Various Initiatives to Improve Fan Engagement

Besides the introduction of blockchain-based collectibles, Alipay has also collaborated with UEFA on a mini-program called the UEFA EURO 2020 Official Digital Hub, which is aimed at Chinese football fans. Packed with interviews, news updates, and other notable content from the tournament, the program has rapidly gained popularity and drawn over 12 million users since July 11.

During the championship, Alipay also launched a campaign through its UEFA EURO 2020 Dream Tour mini-program that allowed authenticated users to earn points by participating in fan activities. At the end of the campaign, the top 1600 participants would receive gold, silver, and bronze digital trophies, along with a certificate on the blockchain.