The European Sponsorship Association has announced the winners of its 2010 ESA European Sponsorship Awards in Amsterdam.

The annual awards celebrate sponsorship excellence across Europe in seven different categories. Mastercard won the Multi-National Award for their UEFA Champions League Sponsorship, a category in which the Castrol 2010 FIFA World Cup received a Highly Commended.

Other winners on the night included AEGON, British Gas, Philips and Specsavers for their sponsorship programmes.

The Awards received entries from 13 European countries. They were held on 24 November at the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam, as part of the two-day European sponsorship conference, Future Sponsorship.

The full winners were as follows:

BUSINESS TO BUSINESS
Winner: Philips and The National Theatre

BUSINESS TO COMMUNITY
Winner: British Gas Pools 4 Schools
Highly Commended: Barclays Ball Kids

BUSINESS TO COMMUNITY – LOW BUDGET
Winner: The AEGON Breakfast Club

BUSINESS TO CONSUMER
Winner: O2 Be The Difference / Irish Rugby
Highly Commended: Guiness Premiership: Season 2009-2010

BUSINESS TO CONSUMER – LOW BUDGET
Winners: O!Karte Riga Night Run and Specsavers – An Eye for Expertise

BUSINESS TO EMPLOYEE
Winner: BT – The Difference is You

MULTI-NATIONAL
Winner: MasterCard UEFA Champions League Sponsorship
Highly Commended: Castrol 2010 FIFA World Cup