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Ambassadors of the foundation

Ambassadors named by the board of trustees work to promote the foundation’s activities.

These ambassadors are well-known public figures who use their platform to raise awareness of the plight of children around the world and of the projects supported by the UEFA Foundation for Children.

Their role is to represent the foundation to the public, partners and Friends of the foundation, all the while conveying positive messages about our projects.

 

Ivan Rakitić was the foundation’s first ambassador, appointed in November 2020 - Biography

Eugénie Le Sommer was the foundation’s first female ambassador, appointed in May 2021 - Biography

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A word from the UEFA Foundation for children Chairman

Dear Friends,

Football is not only the number one sport in the world, but is also a great platform to create solidarity projects for those in need. UEFA has always been one of the leading football organisations in social responsibility and sustainability programmes, and the UEFA Foundation for Children has been doing great work since its launch in 2015.

Even though UEFA is the confederation of European football associations, I am pleased to see that the activities of the UEFA Foundation for Children exceed European borders and reach all around the world.

I would like to encourage all of you to join the activities of the UEFA Foundation for Children and become a supporter of this global initiative. With your support and the solidarity of the European football family, we can achieve even more.

Thank you for your support!

Aleksander Čeferin

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Clarence Seedorf

Clarence Seedoorf

Born April 1, 1976 in Suriname, Clarence Seedorf is the most successful footballer in Dutch history and one of the most talented players in football history.

Clarence Seedorf also coached on four continents (South America, Europe, Asia, Africa). Seedorf is one of only six people in the world to have been chosen by Nelson Mandela to be a Legacy Champion.

He is UEFA Global Ambassador for Diversity & Change and a member of the FIFA Diversity Award Jury.

Clarence Seedorf holds an honorary degree in humanities along with the highest civil decorations in Suriname and the Netherlands for his contributions to different fields in both countries. He founded the Champions for Children Foundation in 2004 contributing financially to many projects globally and developing a specific IP to create social impact through sport.

Throughout his career, Clarence Seedorf has used sport and its influence to promote change and create a better world. Seedorf speaks six languages, completed his education in business, sports psychology and NLP with prestigious courses, becoming also assistant professor in sports science at Catholic University in Milan.

Clarence Seedorf has been a blogger for the New York Times and travels the world inspiring the next generations, from youth jails in Brazil to students at Oxford University.

Seedorf is currently the Chairman of Black Impact Foundation, a member of the support committee of Fondazione Umberto Veronesi, which promotes scientific research, and a member of the strategic committee of the UN Science Panel for the Amazon.

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Dr. Wladimir Klitschko

Dr. Wladimir Klitschko, born on 25 March 1976 in Kazakhstan, is a Ukrainian former professional boxer and an entrepreneur.

Wladimir Klitschko is not only the combined longest reigning heavyweight boxing champion of all time; he has always seen himself as an entrepreneur. In 2003, he and his brother Vitali started their own business and founded the boxing promotion company K2 Promotions. He also founded the Klitschko Management Group, a sports marketing agency and the Klitschko Foundation, which aims to help children to discover their potential and bring their dreams to life. The foundation has helped more than one million children so far. Together with the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, he set up the CAS Change and Innovation Management programme and the Competence Center for Intrapreneurship. In 2018, he laid the foundations for spreading his F.A.C.E. the Challenge method in the English-speaking part of the world with the start of cooperation with Harvard Business School.

In 2016, he founded KLITSCHKO Ventures, dedicated to building and maintaining a comprehensive, strategic partner network.

Wladimir Klitschko, who earned his PhD in 2001, sees himself as a pioneer transferring his knowledge and experience from over 25 years as a professional athlete to different areas of life.

Wladimir Klitshchko has been a member of the board of trustees of the UEFA Foundation for Children since 29 November 2018.

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Snežana Samardžić-Marković

Ms Snežana Samardžić-Marković is the Director General of Democracy at the Council of Europe since 2002. Under her responsibility, the Directorate General works to help our member states in creating a favourable environment for sustainable democracy and democratic security in Europe.

Three directorates and eight partial agreements under her responsibility are providing guidance, assistance and innovation in the areas of democratic governance, participation and diversity. Her responsibilities include the policy areas of education and youth, local democracy, cultural policies, election assistance, the protection of human dignity, gender equality, children’s rights, and the rights of minorities, work against discrimination, democratic citizenship and democratic responses to crisis situations.

Previously, Ms Samardžić-Marković has held numerous positions in the Serbian Government including as Deputy Director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Neighbouring Countries; Assistant Minister of Defence (2005-2007) and Co-President of the Serbia-NATO Defence Reform Group; member of the Foundation Board of WADA, Minister of Youth and Sports (2007-2012) and President of the Fund for Young Talents.

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Match for Solidarity helps disabled children around the globe

On 21 April, UEFA and the United Nations Office at Geneva joined forces to stage the Match for Solidarity charity football match.

The match, held at the Stade de Genève in glorious sunshine, proved to be extremely popular, with 23,654 fans turning up to watch Figo’s team triumph 4–3 in an almost sold-out stadium. The overriding aim of the event was to promote peace, human rights and well-being across the world through the the Sustainable Development Goals as set out by the United Nations.

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Field in a Box – Pirapora do Bom Jesus, Brazil

The UEFA Foundation for Children has been running its Field in a Box project since 2016 with the aim of providing enclosed, fully functional artificial football pitches to impoverished communities. These pitches are environmentally sustainable and quick to install.

Konami Holdings Corporation the UEFA Champions League sponsor – was willing to work with the UEFA Foundation for Children and take the Field in a Box concept to Brazil. The global not-for-profit network streetfootballworld helped Konami to identify the location for its pitch – in Pirapora do Bom Jesus, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo – and the local charity Fundação EPROCAD to maintain the pitch and ensure its sustainable use.

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Greg Clarke

Greg Clarke was born in Leicester (England) in 1957 and is married with four adult children.

Over the last 40 years, Greg has worked for and led a variety of blue chip asset-intensive corporations, including group chief executive roles at a FTSE 100 company and an ASX 50 corporation in Sydney. Since 1995 he has held non-executive director positions at various major international organisations, and since 2010 he has chaired various companies and organisations within the plc, sports and government sectors. His career has revolved around planning and delivering multi-billion pound projects with an emphasis on safety and punctual delivery.

From 2010 to 2016, Greg was chairman of the English Football League, before being appointed chairman of The Football Association in September 2016. Prior to that, he was also a director and chairman of Leicester City FC. He has been heavily involved in various initiatives seeking to use the power of football to deliver social change, including (i) acting as an ambassador for Prostate Cancer UK, the English Football League’s official charity partner, (ii) leading the football community’s fundraising initiative to support survivors of the Grenfell Tower disaster, in partnership with Arsenal FC and Chelsea FC (raising £1.5m), and (iii) personally supporting the work of charitable trusts associated with England’s professional clubs.

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Kevin Lamour

Kevin Lamour was born in France on 15 September 1980.

A football fan for as long as he can remember but, by his own admission, not the most gifted of players, Kevin spent his childhood and teenage years in his native Brittany supporting his Stade Plabennecois and then FC Gouesnou team-mates from the bench as a model substitute and dedicated water carrier. Realising very early on that his future did not lie on the pitch, he took the wise decision to devote himself to his studies. With a law degree, a diploma from the Grenoble Institute of Political Studies, a master’s in political and social communication from the Sorbonne and a master’s in the study of comparative politics from Sciences Po Paris under his belt, he joined UEFA in 2007 within the president’s office.

Since then, he has represented UEFA on FIFA’s Israel-Palestine Monitoring Committee, taken part in the UEFA Captains of Change programme (designed to promote diversity at management level in European football) and volunteered for the UEFA Foundation for Children. Now Deputy General Secretary, he joined the UEFA Foundation for Children board of trustees on 22 November 2017

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Aleksander Čeferin

Aleksander Čeferin, born in Ljubljana (Slovenia) on 13 October 1967, is married with three children.

A graduate of Ljubljana University's law faculty, Aleksander Čeferin went on to work for his family's law firm, and developed a special interest in representing professional athletes and sports clubs. He later took over from his father as company director.

He first took a formal interest in local football in 2005 through his work with the executive board of KMN Svea Lesna Litija, one of Slovenia's most successful futsal clubs. A member of the executive committee of amateur side FC Ljubljana Lawyers since 2005, he served as a member at NK Olimpija Ljubljana from 2006-11.

In 2011, Aleksander Čeferin was elected as Football Association of Slovenia president. He also served as a second and third vice-chairman of the UEFA Legal Committee from 2011 to 2016.

Aleksander Čeferin was elected as UEFA's seventh president at the 12th Extraordinary UEFA Congress in Athens in September 2016, and automatically became a vice-president of the world body FIFA.

He came into office with a clear vision for the future, which focussed on the further protection, promotion and development of European football, putting the game first and safeguarding its interests. He pledged to work for unity and dialogue among the European football community. He has also underlined that UEFA must be a “social fair play” body which promotes respect, diversity and inclusion, and shows no tolerance for racism, sexism, homophobia or any form of discrimination.

On November 22, 2017, Aleksander Čeferin, was elected as the new chairman of the UEFA Foundation for Children at the board of trustees’ meeting held at the UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

At the 43rd Ordinary UEFA Congress, held on February 7, 2019 in Rome, Italy, he was unanimously re-elected as UEFA President for the period 2019-23.

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Kairat Boranbayev

Kairat Boranbayev, born on 22 September 1966, is a Kazakh businessman and president of FC Kairat Almaty.

He graduated from the Kazakh State Institute of Physical Culture  in 1989, and began his career working as a physical education teacher. He then went on to obtain a master’s in law and a doctorate in pedagogy from the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University .

From 1993 to 2000 he worked in various management positions within government and businesses in Kazakhstan.

Between 2000 and 2009 he held an equally diverse range of positions. In 2000, he was appointed executive director of KazTransGas, of which he became deputy director general for external economic relations in April 2002. Meanwhile, from 2000 to 2002, he was commercial director of Intergas Central Asia.

In 2006, he was appointed chairman of the board of KazRosGas, a business which processes  and transports natural gas sourced in Kazakhstan.

He then expanded the scope of his work by getting involved in social activities and promoting healthy lifestyles throughout Kazakhstan, as a result of which he was elected president of the Kostanai Boxing Federation in April 2009.

He became chairman of the supervisory committee of FC Kairat Almaty in 2012 and two years later was appointed CEO of the Almaly asset management company.

In 2015 Mr Boranbayev was appointed as the President of National Paralympic Committee of Kazakhstan.

Kairat Boranbayev has been the 2nd Vice-Chairman of the Fair Play and Social Responsibility Committee since July 2017, and a member of the board of trustees of the UEFA Foundation for Children since 22 November 2017.

 

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Esther Gascón Carbajosa

Esther Gascón was born in Bilbao, a northern Spanish city with a long football tradition. After graduating in law at the University of Deusto in 1994, she completed further studies in sports protocol at the International Protocol School of the Complutense University of Madrid and obtained a master’s degree in sports law from the University of Lleida.

In 1997, she joined the legal department of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), where she was appointed head of protocol. She also managed the office of the RFEF general secretariat before being named director of external relations. She was also part of the RFEF delegations at the UEFA European Football Championships between 2004 and 2016, and at the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups.

Esther Gascón Carbajosa was appointed RFEF director general in 2014 and general secretary in 2016.

She began a renewable four-year term as a member of the UEFA Foundation for Children’s board of trustees on 24 May 2017.

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Football’s new home in Za’atari camp

Lay’s, the UEFA Foundation for Children and the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP) have joined together to install a new artificial football pitch in the Za’atari refugee camp in northern Jordan.

“It’s a wonderful feeling to see how something as simple as a football pitch can bring so much joy and happiness. Football has the ability to inspire, unite and also teach children important life skills and values, such as teamwork and respect,” said the UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, on the occasion of the official inauguration that took place on 12th September 2017.