Germany’s Bundesliga clubs mandate sustainability criteria in club licensing rules

May 31 – Germany’s Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs have agreed to the inclusion of a binding sustainability guideline in their club licensing regulations.

Clubs will in future be obliged to provide evidence of a sustainability strategy and an environmental strategy. Clubs will also have to provide annual measurements of water consumption, wastewater production and energy consumption, as well as a mobility and traffic analysis.

On a social level, all clubs must prove they have an employee code of conduct and “clearly distance themselves from all kinds of discrimination, and commit to equality, diversity and inclusion.”

The sustainability criteria have been divided into two categories, with the first set of Minimum Criteria already compulsory for the 2023-24 season licensing proces. The DFL said that the Minimum Criteria II “are still to be defined in more detail”, and binding compliance will come in for the 2024-25 season.

The DFL said it is working to help clubs with the licensing criteria, including the establishment of a data platform to help clubs continuously gather and evaluate data on sustainability, as well as working with external experts for additional support services for clubs. These services include handbooks and templates.

The DFL said it will hold the first ‘DFL Sustainability Summit’ on 26 July 2022 in Berlin.

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