Two members of Sofascore’s Marketing team have won the Marketers category at Young Lions Croatia 2026, the country’s most prestigious competition for young communication professionals. Copywriter Ivor Borovečki and Creative Content Strategist Šime Kero claimed first place in the Marketers category, finishing ahead of teams from Atlantic Grupa and A1 Hrvatska.

The 10th edition of Young Lions Croatia took place on 21 and 22 February 2026 in Zagreb, and was open to professionals aged 30 or under from agencies, brands, in-house teams and freelancers. Teams of two had 24 hours to respond to a brief for a non-profit organisation and deliver a complete solution, working from the Zagreb Innovation Center without outside distractions.

One brief and 24 hours for a real-world problem.

This year’s client was Sigurna Mjesta (Safe Places), a Croatian civil society organisation working to end street harassment. The task: raise awareness of their Safecity app and increase the number of reports submitted through it.

Borovečki and Kero developed a campaign called Sviraj kraj nasilju – a concept built around one sharp insight. People in sports face verbal abuse daily, and female referees face it at a higher intensity than almost anyone else. The campaign’s centrepiece was a video series featuring Croatia’s best-known female football referee, Ivana Martinčić, exploring how she deals with harassment on the pitch – and off it. The visual identity was equally striking: two open bags side by side. One belongs to a referee. One belongs to an everyday woman. Both contain a whistle and a spray bottle. For Martinčić, standard equipment. For millions of women, tools of self-defence.

The goal was to use Sofascore’s platform and its predominantly male audience to spark a wider conversation about an issue that affects women everywhere, and to channel that conversation into action through the Safecity app.

Awarded at Dani komunikacija in Rovinj

The awards were presented at the Dani komunikacija festival ceremony in May. The 12th edition of Dani komunikacija took place from 7 to 10 May in Rovinj, Croatia’s leading festival of creativity and communications. The implementation plan for the campaign included Sofascore’s app feed, a dedicated referee profile for Martinčić within the platform, a YouTube video series and Sofascore’s Croatian Instagram account.

Next stop: Cannes

As winners of the Marketers category, Borovečki and Kero now earn the right to represent Croatia at the global stage. The Global Young Lions Competition takes place during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity from 22 to 26 June 2026. Cannes Lions is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France, and is where creatives and marketers from around the world come together to celebrate the most prestigious advertising awards in existence.

For Sofascore, a sports technology company whose platform tracks over 25 sports across 40 languages, this recognition carries additional meaning. The campaign demonstrated that a sports data platform can be a vehicle for social change, reaching an audience that traditional awareness campaigns would struggle to engage, with a message that matters well beyond the final whistle.

Read more: We Put Goats on a Basketball Court. Here’s What Happened.