Rita Ora Backs Uefa’s ‘what Is Strong?’ Initiative

Rita Ora is continuing to back UEFA’s #WePlayStrong by supporting the latest phase of the campaign, What is Strong?, providing the voice to the launch film as well as launching an Instagram competition giving We Play Strong fans an opportunity to meet the pop star next month.

As part of the wider We Play Strong initiative, the European football governing body has created a new series of Instagram GIFs and will be asking girls across Europe to use them in answering one question; what does strong mean to you?

We Play Strong was launched in May, which also saw UEFA become the official sponsor of Ora’s ‘The Girls Tour’, the artist’s first European tour in five years.

By uploading their answer to Instagram Stories, tagging and following @WePlayStrong, girls will be entered into a competition to win a VIP weekend that will include meeting Rita herself at her gig in Scotland on 28th July.

UEFA’s ambition for how the game can attract more girls to play involves raising the profile and image of the game, increasing visibility and engagement, driving participation at grassroots level and increasing investment. 

Commenting on the new campaign, singer Rita Ora said: “For me, strong is about being who you want to be, and not being afraid of expressing yourself. I wanted to get involved in this campaign because I believe strength should be defined on your own terms and that women and girls need to know that strength comes in many different forms.

“Strength can be physical, emotional, and mental and I think it’s fantastic that We Play Strong are encouraging girls across Europe to express what ‘strong’ means to them. I’m delighted to have been able to play a part in supporting the initiative, and I’m looking forward to meeting our winner later this month in Dundee.”

Peter Willems, head of marketing and sponsorship Activities at UEFA, added: “Our strategy is essentially to break down all barriers between girls and playing football and in this phase of our campaign we are reappraising what it means to be strong.

“Through the initiative we can show that girls who play football are not only strong, but confident in their strengths and have them inspire more girls to play the sport.

“Our partnership with Rita has so far driven tremendous results for us, with the number of girls and parents using our campaign to find a place to play football up 337% since we started working together.”

We Play Strong will release a four-part documentary which will see international women’s players Nilla Fischer (Wolfsburg/Sweden), Fran Kirby (Chelsea/England), Shanice van de Sanden (Olympique Lyonnais/Netherlands) and Sarah Bouhaddi (Olympique Lyonnais/France) reveal what makes them ‘strong’ and how they used the platform of football to grow. The real-life topics include sexuality, mental health, bullying and gender equality in football.