UEFA Champions League partners with Turkish Airlines

Matthew Badrov08/09/2022 6:05 am08/09/2022

Image provided by UEFA

The UEFA Champions League has announced a new partnership with Turkish Airlines, the first airline to partner with the competition.

As part of the deal, Turkish Airlines will also partner with the UEFA Super Cup, the UEFA Futsal Champions League finals, and the UEFA Youth League finals.

This prestigious partnership, which will be one of the most important sponsorship deals in the history of Turkish sports, carries particular importance with this season’s UEFA Champions League final taking place at Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium on June 10, 2023.

UEFA marketing director Guy-Laurent Epstein acknowledged the magnitude of the deal in a statement.

“The UEFA Champions League is the world’s greatest club competition, and we are delighted to have Turkish Airlines on board as a partner. We both share a global reach, connecting fans across continents and we are delighted that their debut season as a partner will culminate in the final of this prestigious tournament taking place on home soil in Istanbul. We both share similar passions, and truly believe that the sky is the limit when it comes to our partnership.”

Prof. Ahmet Bolat, Turkish Airlines’ Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, added via UEFA:

“As the Flag Carrier Airline of our country, we are proud of our sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League, one of the biggest sports competition in the world. With our country spreading its wings towards the 100th anniversary of our Republic, we are taking the Turkish Airlines brand to new heights. With this sponsorship, we will carry the Turkish Airlines brand throughout the world and bring the whole world together in Istanbul on June 10, 2023. We believe in the unifying power of sports that brings different cultures together and we aim to continue to take part in the world’s leading tournaments.”

This is not the first time that Turkish Airlines has partnered with a UEFA competition. In December 2015, Turkish Airlines became the first airline to join UEFA as its official airline sponsor for UEFA EURO 2016, which took place in France.

Turkish Airlines joins Heineken, PlayStation, PepsiCo, Mastercard, FedEx, Just Eat Takeaway.com and OPPO as official global sponsors of the UEFA Champions League.

Previous ArticleScottish Premier Football League TV deal with Sky Sports loses momentumNext ArticleThree-way global alliance set to take Australian football coaches and analysts to a new level

Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

Patrick Irving16/04/2026 8:55 am16/04/2026

Image credit: Melbourne Victory

The Melbourne-based anf family-owned business will join the Victory family, uniting two institutions which represent the city’s culture and identity.

A partnership with local roots

As the newest partner of Melbourne Victory, Roasting Warehouse joins forces with a vital part of the city’s sporting landscape.

The club’s Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the partnership bears so much value to both parties.

“We are excited to collaborate with Roasting Warehouse, a community-oriented destination for high-quality coffee, proud of its foundations in Melbourne,” said Carnegie via official media release.

“Football and coffee sit at the epicentre of Melbourne’s culture. The two go hand-in-hand, consistently at the centre of the conversation that stirs Melburnians, which is no different to the conversation sport and Melbourne Victory stir in the State.”

Indeed, this is a partnership which combines the identity, passions and culture of an entire city, therefore giving it the foundations required for long-term, mutual success.

Representing the best of Melbourne

Both Victory and Roasting Warehouse are hugely successful in their respective industries. They are institutions with community-oriented philosphies, who pride themselves on craft and quality.

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with Melbourne Victory, a club that represents the heart, passion, and ambition of Melbourne,” revealed Roasting Warehouse Head of Brand, Alexander Paraskevopoulos.

“As a Melbourne-founded, family-run business, supporting a team that means so much to the local community feels very natural for us.”

Furthermore, through their high-quality blends, Roasting Warehouse will look to prepare Victory’s players and staff for high performances on the pitch as the seasons nears completion.

But this is about far more than just fueling athletes.

This is a partnership which embodies and unites two of Melbourne’s greatest strengths and cultural markers – a connection forged from the city’s very own DNA.

For more information about Roasting Warehouse, click here.

Marie-Louise Eta makes history as new Union Berlin head coach

Patrick Irving15/04/2026 6:05 am14/04/2026

Image credit: FC Union Berlin

In an historic appointment, Eta will take over as head coach of Union Berlin until the end of the season.

History in the making

Previously the first female assistant coach in Bundesliga history with Union Berlin, Eta will now take the reigns of the men’s first team on an interim basis.

Currently, the club sit in 11th place in the Bundesliga table, but with only two wins so far in 2026, relegation appears an all-too-real prospect, and one which the club is desperate to avoid.

“Given the points gap in the lower half of the table, our place in the Bundesliga is not yet secure,” said Eta via official media release.

‘I am delighted that the club has entrusted me with this challenging task. One of Union’s strengths has always been, and remains, the ability to pull together in such situations.”

Eta will begin as Union’s new head coach with immediate effect, and will be in the dugout for the club’s matchup against Wolfsburg this weekend.

A step into an equal future

Eta’s appointment signals a major step towards a more level playing field in the football landscape.

Furthermore, Eta joins other coaches including Sabrinna Wittmann, Hannah Dingley and Corinne Diacre who, in recent years, have blazed a trail for female coaches to step into the men’s game.

Wittmann currently manages FC Ingolstadt in Germany’s third division, and was the first female head coach in Germany’s top three divisions.

In 2023, Dingley became caretaker manager of Forest Green Rovers, and thus the first woman to lead a men’s professional team in England.

Diacre, now head coach of France’s women’s national team, managed Ligue 2’s Clerment Foot between 2014 and 2017.

Final thoughts

The impact therefore, is that Eta’s appointment will show future generations of aspiring female coaches that men’s football is an equally viable and possible pathway as the women’s game.

The time is now to level the playing field.

And while it may be a short-term role, its effect on attitudes towards equality and fair opportunities in the game will hopefully resonate long after the season ends.