About: football
Russian clubs banned from next season’s Champions League
Russian clubs have been banned by UEFA from participating in the Champions League and all other European competitions next season, European football's governing body announced on Monday (2 May).
UEFA drops Gazprom, may contribute to more sustainable image
Europe's top football-governing body UEFA ended a multi-million euro contract with Russian state-owned Gazprom on Monday (28 February) due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in a move that is not only good for solidarity but has green benefits as well.
Germany boosts decarbonisation of amateur football
As Germany is preparing to host the 2024 UEFA European championship, several ministries have banded together to support climate-friendly projects in amateur football.
Dutch beer maker enters fight against plastic in UK football
As the football industry continues to grapple with the financial implications of the pandemic, the Dutch beer maker Heineken has reignited the fight against plastic in UK leagues.
New Bundesliga CEO faces COVID-19 challenges amid sustainability push
For one of the world’s largest football leagues, 2022 has been the stage of massive changes: the Bundesliga finally has a new CEO, Donata Hopfen, who must now tackle the massive tasks that await it.
Sustainability core requirement for German Bundesliga
It is the start of a new era in German football: a female chief at the helm of one of the largest European football leagues and mandatory sustainability criteria for the 36 biggest German clubs.
Extreme weather, floods, is a ‘huge issue’ for football
As temperatures rise and the likelihood of extreme weather events increases, football has discovered a new passion for sustainability. Could climate adaptation enter the sporting limelight?
Critics claim Qatar’s sustainable 2022 stadium is just ‘PR’
As Football comes under pressure to go carbon neutral, one major source of emissions remains the stadiums that need to be built for every world cup, something Qatar seeks to address. But critics remain unconvinced that supposedly sustainable stadiums are enough to tackle the issue.
EU Lawmakers vote “European Super League” is a threat
The “European Super League” project is considered a threat to European solidarity and inclusiveness in sport following a resolution adopted by the European Parliament today.
FIFA pledges climate neutrality by 2040, faces criticism on offset reliance
As national leaders pledged their countries' adherence to climate targets of varying degrees of stringency at COP26 in Glasgow, the international governing football body FIFA made an ambitious pledge to become climate neutral by 2040.
Commission’s advertisement team-up with UEFA raises hackles
The launch of the European Commission’s new #EveryTrickCounts campaign seeks to leverage the widespread love of Europe’s favourite sport but has resulted in ridicule and scathing accusations of "greenwashing".
English football league launches environmental sustainability scheme
The English football league (EFL) announced Monday (11 October) that it would join forces with the environmental accreditation scheme GreenCode to make the second-highest league in England more sustainable.
German Bundesliga aims to introduce sustainability criteria for clubs
German football league association DFL aims to anchor sustainability in its licensing criteria by 2024. The 36 first and second class clubs are to take a vote in December whether the recommendations by the task-force “Future of Professional Football” should be included.
German football fans ahead of wider European push for sustainability
European football fans want to get involved in making sure their sport is ecologically sustainable but lack a proper framework, the European football fan association SD Europe said in its sustainability report. Meanwhile, Germany seems to be ahead of the pack when it comes to tackling football's ecological footprint.
Nine Super League rebels rejoin European Club Association
Nine of the 12 founder members of the short-lived European Super League rejoined the European Club Association (ECA) on Monday (16 August), but Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus remain outside as they continue to back the breakaway plan which collapsed in April.
Italy erupts in celebration after Euro soccer triumph
Italians poured into streets and squares in massive numbers as the national soccer team beat England to win Euro 2020, celebrating a success widely seen as a rebound from the heartbreak failure of not qualifying for the last World Cup.
EU’s Schinas says UEFA should rethink Wembley final
A top European Commission official has said he has "doubts" about COVID-hit Britain hosting the Euro 2020 semi-finals and final at Wembley and urged UEFA to "analyse" that choice of venue.
Social media challenge urges French athletes to be more green
Former rugby player and founder of the Fair Play For Planet label Julien Pierre has launched a challenge to film himself on social networks collecting waste or cycling to the stadium as part of the #FPFP challenge.
‘Most eco-friendly’ Euro championship to date will see players, fans travel continent
The European football championship starts on Friday (11 June) and teams will face each other in 51 matches in 11 cities across the continent. Despite the travelling, UEFA has pledged that it will be “the most eco-friendly championship to date”. EURACTIV France reports.
Euro 2020 set to capture continent’s attention but pandemic challenges remain
The Covid-19 pandemic was responsible for its postponement but, with the health situation on the continent gradually improving, the delayed Euro 2020 finally kicks off on Friday (11 June) in Rome.
Munich’s Allianz Arena: a paragon of climate neutrality?
The Euro 2020 football cup’s carbon footprint has come under green scrutiny because of the logistics required to move the teams around between the eleven organising countries. Is the Munich stadium part of the problem or part the solution?
Baku Olympic Stadium: newer can mean greener
Azerbaijan’s host site for the Euro 2020 football cup was built for an Olympic Games that never was. Now it’s preparing for the biggest event it’s hosted so far.
Wembley Arena: an old stadium with a new, green vision
Wembley is one of the older arenas hosting Euro 2020 matches. Can a legacy venue reduce its environmental impact as well as a newer one?