Lay's recently announced that they have been named Official Sponsor of FIFA World Cup 26 and FIFA Women's World Cup 2027 - the major announcement have seen communities around the world- including one in South Africa - benefit greatly from this announcement.
The announcement was made earlier this week as Lay's went from regional supporter to global sponsor of the biggest spectacle in World football.
The move was welcomed by Lay's Brand Manager Aboobaker Hassim, who hailed the significant milestone for the company.
"This is a super exciting initiative for the Lays, who previously was a regional partner with the FIFA World Cup, specifically in the US with the future business and now we are the official snack sponsor for the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup and this is huge for us because we do want to entrench the feeling that it is unthinkable to watch people without Lay's. Many people don't know this, but eating chips is the most popular snack while watching football and Lay's happens to be the most popular brand that people snack on while watching football. So with the success that they've seen as the regional partner, we are now going full scale and all the global partners are on board and that's basically why we are the official snack for the FIFA World Cup and FIFA World Cup for 2026 and 2027," he told Soccer Laduma.
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It is not only on the field where Lay's is making a significant impact. Earlier this year, they announced, in partnership with the UEFA Foundation for children and NGO streetfootballworld, the launch of a global initiative to transform empty chip bags into sustainable artificial turf field. The first of which was unveiled in Tembisa, which is now open for matches and community programs.
"The Lay's RePlay field is something that's really close to our hearts, to make community impact and a footprint throughout South Africa and to the world. So interestingly enough the Lay's field in Tembisa is actually the first one globally. We were the pilot country and from there so many more have come. Locally we have partnered with Amandla and Safe Hub and this focuses on empowering local talent and youth through football, with the intention to provide safe spaces for young people to play football and you know use the sport as a tool for positive social change," he said.
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Lay's have also pledged their support behind women's football and have put their full might behind the growth of the women's game.
"The first thing to note is that Banyana Banya has been so successful and such a source of inspiration as a brand and as South Africans in general, we would be silly to not recognize that. And I'm sure without a doubt that they had inspired so many young girls out there to follow the spark of football. Or even sports personalities in general with their success, and we want to give them the platform and the opportunity to grow in that space."I think it's important for us to give that equal opportunity to both the boys and the girls out there to let them know that they both can be successful in a football career, or even just in a sports career. And I think that's also really important for Lay's globally and that's why we wanted both the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup, and we've done it as well with the Champions League, where we sponsored the Women's Champion League as well as the main Champions League and that will continue to be and we'll partner with legends alike in the female space as well," he concluded.
