It’s here – UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany. 36 years after the German team was eliminated in the semi-finals against the Netherlands at the last “European Championship at home” in 1988, we all want to know whether we will make it to the finals this time.

From June 14 to July 14, 2024, 24 teams will compete for the prestigious title in Germany. And the excitement ist growing in D-A-CH as well as in the Baltic States. And this year we are a small part of it, too. For the last two months birkle developers were busy developing a betting game software – that has just gone live.

Yet, the EURO 2024 is not only a project for our colleagues – it is a welcomed opportunity to have fun together with friends and family, because the big soccer tournament stands for so much more than only the sport but it reflects many of the values we live by every day at birkle IT.

But football also has an individual impact on some colleagues at birkle IT. That’s why we created a survey and asked employees to share their favourite football-related experiences.

Romet Saaliste – Head of Development at birkle IT baltics :

“The colleagues from Delivery – our software development department – were really enthusiastic about developing the project. How often do you get a chance to contribute directly to such a big tournament? Our customers – Delfi – an online news agency is one of the largest media companies in the Baltic States with more than 150 000 unique daily visits – were also very motivated to implement this project quickly and smoothly. No sooner said than done: in just two months, the application was programmed to make it available to thousands of users for the opening of the European Championships.”

Quite a few colleagues at birkle IT AG, birkle IT Estonia OÜ and birkle Lithuania UAB play football themselves in their spare time. Even though the sport is more popular in D-A-CH than in the Baltic states, it is very popular throughout Europe.

Our colleague from the Operating Office – Aleyna Oezguen – kindly provided us with pictures from her active footballing days and told us why football has had a big impact on her personally.

“For me, football is all about team spirit and trust. A team can only work if you try to achieve your goals together and trust each other 100%. That applies both on the pitch and in a professional context. Perhaps it was also thanks to football that I chose an IT company as my workplace – because I don’t mind working in a male-dominated domain. When I started playing football at the age of 12, there were no women’s teams in the area, which is why girls had to show their strength in the boys’ team when they were outnumbered. This has had a positive influence on me to this day.”

Many years of activity: Aleyna played football in bavaria.