About: football

EU will not ban artificial turf pitches but could impose restrictions

The European Union will not ban artificial turf pitches, at least yet, but the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) is looking at alternatives, as this material is an important source of microplastics.

Forest Green Rovers, the world’s greenest football club

A vegan menu, bamboo-made t-shirts, an organic pitch, a stadium 100% powered with renewable energy… in less than a decade, the Forest Green Rovers has become the first carbon-neutral club in the world. EURACTIV interviewed its manager.

How sustainable can football be?

Football inspires, it brings people together and is like a religion to some – as we may well see at the Women's World Cup final in France on Sunday. But football also has its downsides: heaps of rubbish, squandering of water and a big CO2 footprint. The Life Tackle initiative now wants to change that.

The football tournament you’ve never heard of

Eight football teams will duel it out in the foothills of the Caucasus this month to decide which is the best in Europe. But you will not find Germany, Italy or Spain on the match list and none of the teams taking part are fully recognised by the international community.

Betis, the Spanish club committed to going climate neutral

Spanish football club Real Betis is well known for the colours of its T-shirt, green and white. But now they want to integrate that concept into their whole policy by leading the way in making soccer more sustainable.

UEFA faces criticism over carbon footprint for Euro finals

Criticism over football carbon footprint erupted as English clubs fans had to travel the world to see their teams playing against each other, thousands of kilometres away from home in Spain and Azerbaijan. 

French professional League and WWF join forces to boost sustainability in football

The French professional football governing body and the environmental NGO WWF signed a partnership in April to reduce the ecological footprint of football clubs.

British football clubs want to lead the way in reducing single-use plastics

Football can bring joy or frustration to supporters... but also a lot of waste. UK football teams have decided to introduce reusable cups in stadiums, as part of a joint initiative by the Premier League and British TV channel Sky News.

Spanish footfall club turns fan waste into organic fertiliser

Spanish football club Real Sociedad is turning the shells of sunflower seeds that supporters eat during matches into compost that local farms use as organic fertiliser.

Spain’s La Liga says ready to turn to EU over City and PSG cases

The Spanish soccer league’s organising body La Liga is ready to turn to the European Union if UEFA does not enforce its Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules against Manchester City and Paris St Germain, a spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday....

The ‘Orthodox Four’ aim at hosting FIFA world cup in 2030

Bulgaria will take part in a joint bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov announced on Friday (2 November), together with Serbia, Greece and Romania, a format dubbed by diplomats and journalists “the Orthodox Four”.

English football club blames Brexit for lack of new players

The manager of English football club Tottenham Hotspur has blamed the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union for his team’s failure to sign any new players before the start of the new campaign.

The Brief – Bye bye Mannschaft

Let’s not pretend, we all watched the Germany game yesterday, in Berlaymont, in offices, in nearby pubs. At least the shocking end, Mannschaft’s first group stage exit from a World Cup in 70 years, which aroused considerable interest around the globe.

‘Famous’ Messi triumphs in Europe court case

Football superstar Lionel Messi won the backing of European Court of Justice judges on Thursday (26 April), when they ruled that the Barcelona player’s request for a trademark is legitimate, citing his fame outside the world of football as a crucial element of the case.

Ex-football star Weah headed for presidential run-off in Liberia

Former soccer star George Weah was set to win the first round of a presidential election in Liberia after the elections commission said on Sunday he was leading with 39% of votes and less than 5% of precincts still to be counted.

Football union wants EU to ban high transfer fees after Neymar deal

World football players' union FIFPro is lobbying the European Union to ban transfer fees, which it says concentrates power in the hands of a few mega-rich clubs, to the detriment of most players and to the sport itself.

State aid for Spanish football clubs was ‘illegal’, Vestager says

Some of Spain's top football teams - including Real Madrid and FC Barcelona - will have to pay back illegal public aid worth up to €70 million as it represented “an unfair advantage” versus other teams, the Commission said on Monday (4 July).

Escalating strikes in France put Euro 2016 at risk

Striking rail workers halted about half of French train services on Wednesday (1 June) in a dispute over working time as a standoff between the militant CGT union and the Socialist government over a proposed labour law reform escalated.

Football: Brexit risk puts Premier League on defensive

The possibility of Britain voting to leave the European Union in its 23 June referendum leaves the lucrative and globally popular English Premier League facing an uncertain future.

Footballers ask Commission to abolish transfer system

The world union for footballers called for the transfer system to be “abolished” on Friday (18 September), and slapped in an EU legal challenge to FIFA that could ban transfer windows and drive down the price of players.

Football financial fairplay rule referred to EU Court of Justice

A legal complaint against UEFA's break-even rule 'Financial Fair Play (FFP)' has been referred to the European Court of Justice (EJ), the lawyers who brought the case said on Tuesday (23 June).

FC Barcelona, Real Madrid antitrust case to be decided ‘at the end of summer’

Margrethe Vestager, the EU's Competition Commissioner, will make a decision in the cases concerning alleged illegal state aid to the football clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid by the end of the summer, the Commissioner revealed in an interview Monday (22 June).

Germany bumped up to ‘best nation’, exceeding US in global ranking

First world champion in football, now best image: in a global comparison, Germany was bumped to best nation status – not least because of its top performance in sports – while Russia suffered the largest demotion. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Almunia counter-attacks in high-profile Spanish football tax case

Joaquín Almunia, the Spanish Commissioner in charge of policing the EU's antitrust rules, has denied accusations of a conflict of interest in the handling of an investigation into unfair tax breaks worth billions of euros given to Spanish football clubs, including Real Madrid and Barcelona.