Football: European Cup draws – trophies crafted by an Irpinia-based company once again this year

Once again this year, the task has been entrusted to the Iaco Group owned by the Iacovacci family – with its heart in Avellino and workshops in Vicenza and Lugano – is once again responsible for producing the trophies for UEFA’s three competitions (Champions League, Europa League and Conference League), which kick off today, 27 August, with the group stage draw.

For the Irpinia-based club, this marks a historic ‘treble’, to which the European Super Cup is also added – a trophy that, in this season that has only just begun, is already on display in Paris Saint-Germain’s trophy room.

Since 2005 – that is, since the new format was introduced – the Champions League trophy has had the names of all the teams that have previously won it engraved on the back. Since 2009, the trophy won on the pitch has remained with UEFA. The team that wins the final may keep it from the date of victory until two months before the final of the following season. The winning team is presented with a replica.

Manual labour accounts for over 80 per cent of the process involved in creating the Champions trophy; there is very little industrial production involved. In fact, it takes almost three months of work from start to finish, as pointed out by the chairman and managing director of the Iaco Group, Igino and Alberto Iacovacci, alongside vice-chairwoman Nicolina Addonizio. The Avellino-based company, which has specialised in working with precious metals since the 1980s, is also a commercial partner of Serie A.