Atos partners UEFA National Team Football until 2030
Global IT consultancy Atos has added to its long list of sporting engagements, by becoming the official technology partner of UEFA. The role will see Atos help the governing body of European football use technology to improve its operations, and support national team football events like Euro 2024.
Founded in 1997, Atos is a French multinational professional services firm, headquartered in Bezons, France. The firm’s worldwide offices offer support for clients with high-tech transactional services, unified communications, cloud, big data and cybersecurity services.
Digital transformation is touching every corner of the economy at present, and sport is no different. As a result, recent years have seen top sporting bodies increasingly turn to Atos for support with their use of technology – from supplying timing, scoring and results technology to the organisers of European Championships athletics events, to helping the 2018 Winter Olympics to be the first such event run entirely via the cloud.
Now, Atos has been tapped by the governing body of European football, as it looks to manage, improve, and optimise its complex technology landscape and operations. As the official technology partner of UEFA National Team Football (UNTF), Atos will work to support national team football events of the coming years, including UEFA European Championships, UEFA Nations League Finals, European Qualifiers, U-21 Championships, and Futsal EURO.
“The world is becoming more digitalised and with Atos onboard as our technology partner, we are ensuring we will have all the necessary technological expertise to successfully deliver our competitions to the millions of fans around the globe,” said Guy-Laurent Epstein, Marketing Director, UEFA.
UEFA organises some of the most prestigious and visible events in the sports industry – with its next showpieces being the 2023 final tournament of the Nations League, in the Netherlands, and Euro 2024, in Germany. The latter will be the first time a European Championship has been hosted in Germany since re-unification – with former East Germany city Leipzig even being included among the host cities for the historic event.
With these key events already on the horizon, Atos will work to provide the best possible experience for all stakeholders. The firm will be responsible for managing and securing the underlaying hybrid-cloud environment and the infrastructure required to host UEFA’s services, applications, and data, while also using world-class cybersecurity services, from identity and access management to advanced incident detection and response, to anticipate, monitor and remediate any potential threats in real time.
“I am delighted that Atos' sporting history continues to be written on new fields! Football is the most popular sport in Europe, and we are committed to making it even more visible and accessible to all by working with UEFA to accelerate its digital transformation. This is a major win for Atos and proves that the Group is well positioned to work hand in hand with new customers over the long term,” added Nourdine Bihmane, Co-CEO in charge of Tech Foundations, Atos.
In addition to the activities related to the organisation of UEFA events, Atos will also provide a full range of services – with advanced digital workplace, user support and network solutions – to optimise UEFA’s IT operations and improve the internal user experience. Atos will work closely with UEFA in all these areas to support its business strategy and bring efficiency and innovation to its IT environment for the benefit of fans and the entire football family in Europe.