Zara and Mike Tindall to be ambassadors of health passport firm working to bring back sport

Zara and Mike Tindall have signed a joint deal to become ambassadors of a British cyber technology company helping professional sport to return in the wake of coronavirus.

Olympic silver medalist Zara, and her world cup rugby winning husband have been appointed global sports ambassadors of VST Enterprises (VSTE), which has developed a unique digital health passport.

The technology has been designed for professional athletes and sports teams to use as part of “Project Restart” in getting all sports back to professional competition in the UK and globally post Covid-19.

Home Secretary Priti Patel announced recently that all travellers coming to the UK after the June 8 would be required to comply with a mandatory self isolation of 14 days with tough penalties for those who do not comply.

The announcement has far reaching implications for international travel to and from the UK, tourism and also for sports teams competing in European and International sports events, leagues and professional competitions.

VST believes the health passport could allow all professional athletes and sports teams to resume their European and International sports fixtures and become exempt  from quarantine if they can show a valid health status as test negative for Covid-19.

The Manchester-based cyber security firm, which was founded by tech “power couple” Louis-James Davis and his wife Nicole Davis, has also developed a new generation of code scanning technology hailed as ‘human DNA’ - seen as a step up from traditional bar codes and QR codes.

Called VCode, it can be scanned from over 100 metres on and from moving objects, allowing users to access exclusive content, check the validity and authenticity of an item and make purchases while on the move. It is supported by an app called VPlatform, a cloud based platform that allows users to keep any codes they have.

Zara, 39, said: “I think the potential of this technology is really interesting and has so many uses across the horse racing and equestrian worlds from horse passports and bloodstock sales to tickets for the horse racing season.  We have the opportunity with VCode® to help make many aspects of our industry more efficient and this groundbreaking cyber technology could really have a positive impact.”

Mike, 41, added: “The work that VSTE are doing with health passports to help get UK sports teams back into professional competition is a great idea. I think everyone from across the sporting world would be delighted if this technology could help get sports teams back to their respective competition leagues and complete their seasons.”

As ambassadors, the couple will represent the British technology company across the UK sports sectors in rugby, horse racing, equestrian, golf and luxury lifestyle brands.

The Queen’s granddaughter, who won the Eventing World Championship in 2006, has  sponsorship deals with the outdoor clothing company Musto, Rolex, Land Rover and investment firm Artemis.

VSTE is currently in talks with the governing bodies of various sports to use its health passport technology to help resuming their sporting fixtures and events. The Premier League is among those considering using the technology ahead of the planned return of professional football next month.

Sports minister Richard Caborn has said it will play a crucial role in getting UK sports back to professional competition and televised in a phased comeback.

He said: "This is a major breakthrough for all sports to allow their athletes and teams to travel across borders using a health passport. Whilst testing is the key to ascertaining health status, the missing part of this is the mechanism is the official verification and validation that you have taken a test.

"The health passport not only confirms who you are, as its been verified alongside your passport, but also confirms the Covid test status and when this test was administered.  This would also for great movement of professional athletes to complete UK, European and International fixtures. I also see this would have great potential for also allowing international airline travel to resume with the airlines all working together.”