The FIGC has received a prestigious award from UEFA, which has rewarded the Federation for the social responsibility initiatives it has carried out since the start of the pandemic. Indeed, off-field excellence has been celebrated this week with the UEFA Grow Awards, which recognise national football association achievements in eight areas of strategic development.

The Federation also received the 'creativity and innovation' award in the 'Communications campaign' category for its 'Becoming A Referee' project. This consisted of a series of short videos shared by the FIGC with the objective of promoting its training programmes for future referees. In 2021, UEFA received 150 applications from projects and programmes in a record 43 associations across the eight award categories, with the FIGC winning the COVID-19 community initiative prize. UEFA summed up the Federation’s work as follows: ‘Following the outbreak of the pandemic, the FIGC was able to use the power of football to provide comprehensive support to society through three areas: raising awareness of correct behaviours to minimise the spread of infection, opening the NA technical centre to COVID-19 patients and helping to raise funds for medical care and equipment.’

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin had the following to say: “These prestigious Awards are a way for us to thank you and to recognise the invaluable work you are doing. Much of your work is behind the scenes but it makes an important difference every day, leading to more effective business, more impactful programmes and more sustainable national associations.”