"10,000 Smiles" Project
"United by Football. Vereint im Herzen Europas“ - this is the motto of UEFA EURO 2024 and we as Host City Stuttgart have transformed the entire city into a stadium. Enthusiasm and the fascination of football can be felt everywhere these days and weeks, whether in our arena or in the city center. Pictures from all over Germany and Europe show people celebrating together in the stadiums, on the streets and in the Fan Zones.
Tickets for the European Championship were and are in high demand, but not everyone was lucky enough to win a ticket in the draw or could afford one. For this reason, the "UEFA Foundation for Children" launched a special campaign.
As part of the "10,000 Smiles" project, a total of 10,000 tickets for the group stage of UEFA EURO 2024 were donated to disadvantaged children and young people in all ten Host Cities. We, the Host City of Stuttgart, received 900 tickets from the "UEFA Foundation for Children" and a further 100 tickets from the "UEFA Foundation for Children" and the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Home Affairs in cooperation with the Berlin education initiative "Lernort Stadion" (stadium as a place of learning).
250 "Smile"-tickets were distributed across each of the four group matches to
13 selected charitable organizations from the Stuttgart area. The various organizations were selected in cooperation with the Stuttgart Social Welfare Office, VfB Stuttgart and the office for the interests of people with disabilities.
Thomas Pollak, overall project manager of our Host City Stuttgart: "Football stands for diversity and connects all groups and social classes. The "10,000 Smiles" project is a prime example of this. We are delighted that the children and young people, accompanied by their parents or guardians, were able to enjoy an unforgettable experience during the group stage in our arena. It shows once again that football is more than just sport and can build bridges between people - regardless of their background or circumstances."
"Being a key part of UEFA EURO 2024 is a great opportunity to create unique experiences," said Carine Nkoue, General Secretary of the UEFA Foundation for Children. "We as the UEFA Foundation for Children are very proud and happy that children from the respective regions of the Host Cities were able to experience this event on site. They were able to experience unforgettable moments that will stay with them forever. It is our origin, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation and physical and mental disabilities that make us unique as human beings. Everyone should be able to take part in UEFA EURO 2024, regardless of their social status, to celebrate a shared football festival to which everyone feels they belong. And that's exactly what the "10,000 Smiles" project has achieved."
