ACF Fiorentina to Use Blockchain to Certify the Official Shirts of the Club

The ability of blockchain technology to bring trust and implement progressively reliable forms of certification also finds increasing attention in the games, sports and football arena in particular. Now, official sports shirts of an Italian football club, will be certified with distributed ledger tech (DLT).

ACF Fiorentina and Genuino have started a collaboration which gives room to unequivocally certify the official shirts of the Team and it is the first time that a football club decides to use blockchain tech to obtain the certification of the uniforms that are worn by own members.

On 15 and 20 December, 2019, the purple players took to the field at the Franchi stadium in Florence, Tuscany, for two matches, respectively against FC Internazionale and against AS Roma, in these two circumstances the shirts worn were equipped with a special chip (IoT) and each of them is now combined with a unique, unchangeable code which irrefutably sanctions its authenticity and is thus certified on the blockchain.

Digitalizing Sports

This certification allows users to attribute a secure value to the shirts that will be made available on the market to all those, fans, enthusiasts and collectors, who wish to have a unique object closely connected to a sporting performance and to the team. All with the activation of a charity auction.

There are now many blockchain-based solutions enabling users to enhance the quality and authenticity of excellent products, with the certification of ownership and of any transfer of ownership, thanks to precise and reliable tracking of the entire production chain. And this is one of the innovative ways to fight counterfeiting and to create new forms of connection between brand, product and consumer.

According to Giuseppe Barone, General Manager of ACF Fiorentina, the project represents an innovative service that allows to certify and authenticate the Club shirts by involving the fans in a new shopping experience and interface with the Club and also allows for the creation of an ecosystem efficient to combat forging. Now, it is very possible and easy to build a unique prototype that uses and integrates IoT, blockchain & DLT applications, intelligent sensors, artificial intelligence and intelligent contracts.

Most of the Italian football clubs including Juventus, AS Roma, etc. are busy delving into the potential of disruptive technologies such as blockchain and cryptocurrency. Other clubs (such as Gibraltar, Bayern Munich, Benfica, PSG, Miami Dolphins, West Ham United, Liverpool) from different parts of the world are also trying to take advantage of this nascent technology.