As the representative body for over 470 European football clubs, the European Club Association (ECA) has the responsibility of “safeguarding, strengthening and developing European clubs’ interests.” Safeguarding club interests inherently means safeguarding their futures. The ECA understands the best way to do that is to act in the manner its hopes it member clubs will, and to guide clubs along their sustainability journeys, helping them develop UEFA-compliant sustainability strategies that can help them tackle critical issues such as racism, equality and inclusion and most importantly climate change.
Heading the ECA’s sustainability pillar is Head of Sustainability Gaia Pretner. Pretner has a PhD in Sustainability Management and years of experience as a researcher and practitioner, including as Sustainable Procurement Manager at the controversial 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Pretner’s first task as Head of Sustainability was to establish the ECA’s own sustainability strategy. To slash the organization’s operational emissions - most of which stem from the annual General Assembly for which over 350 club representatives fly in from all across Europe - Pretner and her team first did stakeholder engagement mapping, interviewing over 20 representatives from key stakeholders. They also surveyed member clubs and completed an organizational carbon footprint audit to better understand their baseline emissions.
The principle, in Pretner’s eyes, is for the ECA to lead by example, in her words, “don't ask clubs to do something you are not doing.” She notes that “The analysis of the main causes of emissions is a useful exercise to help inform the development of ECA’s Sustainability Strategy, which includes a carbon emission prevention and reduction plan.” Pretner goes on to explain that while the strategy was being further developed the ECA had chosen to offset its emissions using involuntary carbon offset Gold Standard certified carbon credits.
One of Pretner’s initial discoveries was that the most recent ECA General Assembly generated 292 tons of CO2, 70% of which came from business travel and 30% of which stemmed from goods and services, most notably catering. The ECA’s goal is to cut its emissions quickly (although no exact reduction has been specified) and it is urging its member clubs to do the same, offering them guidance wherever they require it.
In order to ensure that ECA staff can provide the best guidance possible, Pretner provided a one-day, three-session training experience for her coworkers which helped clarify the newest sustainability standards and made all employees aware of the latest UEFA licensing requirements.
Because the ECA is not a governing body, it cannot request information from its member clubs or enforce sustainability policies. That role falls to UEFA and the national associations. However, the ECA can provide an overview of clubs’ sustainability progress and continue to nudge its member clubs in the right direction by collaborating with UEFA. This is why the two organizations decided to launch a series of sustainability webinars.
The webinar series aims to help “European clubs meet social and environmental sustainability targets,” by “building a community of sustainability-minded clubs, sharing best practices, and offering guidance on how to develop strategies that align with UEFA licensing requirements.”
The newest UEFA licensing requirements - established at the start of the 2022-23 season - require clubs to create and implement policy on five of the eleven sustainability guidelines (four environmental and seven social), while also appointing a football social responsibility officer and developing a formal football social responsibility strategy.
The webinars are broken into two segments, first theoretical training - normally run by Pretner - followed by practical examples of member clubs excelling in the subject area. The first webinar took place in October with AS Roma and Malmö FF used as examples of two clubs that had developed successful sustainability strategies. These best practice examples are key for clubs all across the European football pyramid looking to develop coherent approaches to sustainability, as opposed to what is still often commonplace, a piecemeal approach to an existential issue.
The webinar series will wrap up in March, just before the next UEFA licensing window closes in April. The ECA sustainability team hopes that the advice given in these sessions provides a roadmap for clubs to act more sustainably, and helps them take a holistic approach to sustainability.
Apart from the webinar series the ECA will continue aiding its member clubs in any way it can so that they can comply with UEFA’s sustainability regulations. When asked which issues clubs most need help on, Pretner said “environmental topics,” clearly articulating the room for growth in education about environmental concerns in the beautiful game. Pretner also acknowledged that many clubs face the challenge of managing environmental impact that is not entirely in their control - in other words Scope 3 emissions from fan travel, or gameday emissions at rented stadiums.
Still, Pretner acknowledges the exceptional influence football clubs have over large fanbases. She admits that they need to act accordingly and be very careful of what they say and what they champion, especially when it comes to environmental sustainability.
In an effort to to continue providing adequate technical support to its clubs, the ECA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UEFA (and another with FIFA) which renews the exclusive partnership between the two bodies. Running through 2030, the MoU guarantees that the ECA will continue to recognize UEFA as the sole European football governing body, and it gives the ECA and its clubs continued representation on UEFA committees. This means the ECA can negotiate many issues including match calendars, and it will always be informed of the latest UEFA regulations, thus being better able to serve its member clubs.
Finally, in order to hear the concerns of clubs, the ECA has established Working Groups, which are “comprised of 200 appointed representatives from 41 countries and 114 clubs” from across European football. There are eight ECA Working Groups, one of which is entirely focused on sustainability. These groups are platforms where clubs can share information, best practices and voice opinions about the future of the game. They can even make recommendations to the ECA Board and Executive Committee. For the sustainability Working Group, Pretner notes that there will be smaller, temporary task forces and permanent panels activated to address specific topics and general issues. Some of these issues include sustainable event management, operations, accessibility and incoming EU CSRD regulations.
It is indisputable that much progress is still needed to make football a sustainable activity. The games’ stewards are running out of time to safeguard its future. The ECA is now pushing the importance of social and environmental sustainability and providing guidelines and best practice examples to its clubs to help fulfill UEFA’s sustainability criteria. At the same time, many critics will point out that just as UEFA talks about environmental sustainability and puts forth strategies that are supposed to help it reach net-zero emissions, it expands its tournament sizes and add matches to the calendar with seeming disregard for player-welfare and rising emissions. Furthermore, despite the ECA making a strategic decision to address sustainability both internally and amongst its member clubs, the optics of the association being chaired by the CEO of PSG - a club run by a petrostate - mean that the ECA’s sustainability work will always be called into question by some.
