The 36 professional clubs have agreed that the DFL will also examine sustainability criteria when granting licenses before each season. (picture alliance / PICTURE POINT / Sven Sonntag)
Taking the ferry to a Bundesliga game – in Bremen, that’s possible. The stadium is right on the Weser. But the beautiful location also brings with it dangers. “We are actually in a flood zone. That means that the issue of climate protection actually affects us directly,” says Anne-Kathrin Laufmann, Managing Director for Sport and Sustainability.
This is also why Werder has set itself an ambitious goal: by 2030, the club wants to reduce its CO2 emissions by half. This is why Laufmann is working on LED lighting, heat pumps and vegetarian food. “I don’t think these are topics that you can use to lure people out from behind the stove, but rather they are simply things that we have to implement bit by bit and where we now put on less of a marketing lens to see: what can we actually communicate to the outside world?”
Progress in implementing the criteria visible
The other clubs in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga are also facing this problem. Two years ago, the 36 professional clubs agreed that the German Football League would also examine sustainability criteria when granting licenses before each season. This is not just about ecological sustainability, but also about social aspects and good club management.
A certain effect is noticeable: A Deutschlandfunk survey of the clubs shows that practically all clubs now have people responsible for sustainability and have anchored sustainability in their statutes or rules of procedure. More than two thirds of the clubs also know their carbon footprint.
“I am very, very satisfied. If you look at the last two years, it has been quite a ride,” says the head of the DFL sustainability department, Marika Bernhard.
Only about half of the criteria have to be fulfilled in the current season
However, the ride for the clubs is no longer as demanding as originally planned. At the beginning there were more than 100 criteria, all of which were to be mandatory this season. The DFL has now revised the list of criteria and reduced the number to 54.
And only nine criteria currently result in a sanction if they are violated. These include proof of a sustainability strategy, but also easily fulfilled criteria such as a public declaration against discrimination. The number will double by the 2025/26 season.
“And I would always go down this path again. Because it is more important to me that all 36 are included, that we contribute to the development of skills and knowledge transfer and that we do not shoot ourselves in the foot by setting the bar too high from the start and then losing clubs,” says So Bernhard in the Deutschlandfunk sports talk.
Sustainability check not mandatory for sponsors
The fact that things are not happening any faster is also due to the fact that consistent implementation of the criteria could lead to a loss of revenue. A so-called ESG check for sponsors, in which clubs are supposed to examine potential partners for their sustainability, will not remain mandatory in the coming season either.
The clubs can therefore continue to enter into advertising partnerships with companies that do not fit the sustainability goals. A contradiction with consequences, says Matthias Fifka. He is a business professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and also researches the social responsibility of professional football.
“If you claim to be socially and ecologically responsible, but at the same time cooperate with companies or industries that do not fit this image, then this inevitably leads to a loss of credibility.”
Oil companies or gambling operators as sponsors
Nevertheless, HSV entered into a partnership with the oil company Shell two years ago. And almost all clubs advertise gambling providers despite the risk of addiction, even Werder Bremen. “Of course, due to the pandemic, relegation and promotion, we are not in such a great financial position that we are currently excluding certain sectors. Above all, sectors that are very easily accessible, even for the entire business. And betting providers are currently one of them.”
With such sponsorship, the club must also address issues such as gambling addiction and prevention, stresses Managing Director Laufmann. And she expects that there will be stricter regulation for everyone in the coming years.
“Yes, there are – and I don’t want to sugarcoat it in any way – many, many sectors, including in football, that want to use the positive image of football, and I would like us to be much clearer about that.”
Balance between responsibility and economic interest
Matthias Fifka, who advises several clubs on the implementation of sustainability criteria, also believes that the league would have to agree to exclude certain sectors. “As a result, if you want to pursue the issue seriously, you will have to act in such a way that you say that there are certain sectors that we will no longer work with, even if it means financial losses.”
At the moment, however, it does not look like that will happen, especially not without political regulation, says DFL sustainability chief Marika Bernhard. “Like other companies and industries, football is of course forced and required to find the right balance between responsibility and economic interest. And as long as standards and laws are adhered to, we find it very difficult to label individual industries and companies as no-go areas.”
The DFL is also dependent on the 36 clubs. In theory, they could agree on an advertising ban for certain sectors. However, the interests of the clubs are too different for that to happen. Even within the clubs, those responsible have to weigh up whether they can and want to forego income – and thereby possibly jeopardize the sporting goal.
The Bundesliga will therefore have to deal with a number of contradictions until further notice.
