Innovation

Best innovative ideas for football during the coronavirus period

Geplaatst op 14 september 2020

How can we use innovations to advance football during the coronavirus pandemic? The Football Innovation Platform (which consists of KNVB, UEFA, City Football Group, Johan Cruijff ArenA and Ajax) posed this question to all innovative companies worldwide. This challenge, named "Reimagine Football", resulted in 329 submissions from 38 different countries. The winners per theme were announced after the final pitching event.

All submissions are divided into four themes: fans at home, stadium operation, stadium visitors and amateur football. A group of experts from the Football Innovation Platform eventually selected 27 parties that were invited to pitch their solution to the international football community during an online event. The jury, consisting of a.o. Gijs de Jong (General Secretary of KNVB), Jean-Paul Decossaux (Commercial Director of KNVB), Henk van Raan (Chief Innovation Officer of Johan Cruijff ArenA), Nuria Tarré (Chief Marketing Officer of City Football Group) and Andrea Traverso (Director Financial Sustainability and Research of UEFA) and Menno Geelen (Commercial Director of Ajax) selected six winners.

Fans at home

Livelike - A social platform for football fans that gives an extra dimension to the football experience through a combination of social interaction, gamification and entertainment.

Stadium operation

Signify - Technology with which the air in a stadium can be disinfected by means of UVC radiation, thereby reducing the risk of airborne corona contamination.

Stadium visitors (two winners)

Immersiv.io - An application that allows stadium visitors to see live match information and player statistics using augmented reality.
Close - A technology that enables fans to receive exclusive information and communicate with other fans to join the match together.

Amateur football (2 winners)

B42 - An app that offers the possibility to remotely guide players in their rehabilitation from injuries.
Humanox: shin guards equipped with sensors that measure and provide insight into player performance data via an online platform.

The members of the Football Innovation platform and the 27 selected finalists will use the coming period to further investigate how the solutions can be applied in practice at the stadium, with media content, or at amateur pitches.