The Women's Euro is an opportunity to talk about sustainability, inclusion and respect
Climate. This summer, Switzerland hosts the UEFA Women’s EURO. Tournament director Doris Keller explains the challenge of making this event a springboard for women’s football without heavily impacting the environment.
Doris Keller, on the Women’s Euro website, you pledge a highly ecological tournament. That’s ambitious for an event of this scale.
It’s ambitious, but necessary. We develop an environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy for each tournament organised by UEFA. Nowadays, it’s no longer conceivable to organise such large events without addressing the issue of sustainability. When we bid to host theWomen’s Euro 2025, it was already clear that we had to make this a priority.
Do you feel that this is something the audiences are expecting?
From the audiences, but also from the [Swiss] Confederation, the cantons and the host cities. The latter have committed themselves to this by signing a sustainability charter. As for the organisation, UEFA and key stakeholders of the tournament have signed a human rights declaration, to anchor our commitment to the environment, but also to diversity and inclusion. This tournament must be a “safe space”, a place where everyone feels safe and comfortable.
How did you go about this strategy?
We’re not starting from scratch. The ESG strategy is overseen by UEFA, which draws on lessons learned from previous events in a continuous process of improvement. Internally, we have specialists in environmental and social issues, and we collaborate with specialized NGOs, particularly on human rights issues.
Mobility is central to your strategy. What are the main priorities?
We’re starting out with a number of advantages: football stadiums are conveniently located, and Switzerland has an excellent public transport network. We want this to be the priority mode of transport for the public. But prices can be a deterrent, especially for people coming from abroad. So it was vital that public transport be included in the match ticket. This required a lot of work, but we wanted to ensure that a family with two children could see a match for less than 100 francs. Thanks to the data collected during ticket purchase, we can pass on needs to the SBB so that the offer can be adapted and additional trains organised when necessary.
What about team travel?
We have little influence on how the teams will arrive in Switzerland, and many of them will be flying. However, our aim is for them to no longer fly once they arrive in the country. We’ve made them aware of this by encouraging them to travel by train, and even by bus if necessary.
Last summer, during the Men’s Euro in Germany, the Swiss team set an example by traveling mainly by train. However, some matches were held close together, leading the team to sometimes take the plane. Did you take this into account when drawing up the match schedule, to encourage teams to travel by train?
It’s difficult to influence the match schedule because it depends on many parameters. There are also security issues: we can’t schedule two matches too close together, because the police forces can’t be in more than one place at the same time. But the situation is not really comparable with Germany because of Switzerland’s size; the train remains the most efficient means of transport in this context. We waited until the group stage draw to give the teams the locations of the base camps. This enabled them to make the best possible choice. For example, Poland, who was planning to stay in Liechtenstein, opted for Zug in the end, as they will be playing twice in Lucerne.
In addition to mobility, in what other areas are you planning measures to limit the environmental impact of the tournament?
Waste management is an important issue. None of the stadiums will use disposable tableware, and we are trying to limit the amounts of waste. This is also the case, for example, with advertising material, including from our partners. Questions remain on the topic of food waste. The law is very restrictive on this subject, but we’re trying to find a solution.
So what will we be able to eat at the Women’s Euro?
When it comes to food, we have to adapt the offer to the Women’s Euro audiences, which are much more family-oriented than the audiences at the men’s tournament. So there will not only be beer and sausage, but also child-friendly menus and vegetarian options. We’ll be emphasizing the healthy aspect of the food and beverages offered at the tournament. We’ll also make sure that there is access to clean drinking water in the stadiums. In this respect, there’s a lot of work to be done to raise awareness among audiences coming from outside Switzerland. What is obvious to us, such as the fact that water in public fountains is safe to drink, is not necessarily the case for everyone. Yet this is an important aspect that helps make the tournament affordable.
The accessibility of the event is an integral part of the social pillar of your strategy. It also includes measures to combat discrimination…
The Women’s Euro attracts an audience that could be described as more “vulnerable,” insofar as it is more feminine and very family-oriented. We apply a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination. To this end, we have developed a platform for anonymous reporting of any incidents. Reports are forwarded directly to the police so that action can be taken quickly. We also use a social media monitoring tool to combat any hate speech, particularly misogynistic, that may arise.
Do you have the impression that hatred against women has intensified, especially in the current political context?
The harassment is much more apparent than in men’s football. It’s our job to make sure that our event is as spared as much as possible from this problem.
How can this tournament mark a turning point for women and for football?
The matter of legacy is particularly close to my heart. The Euro 2025 should enable us to invest in projects for the future and, in the coming years, to have not only more female players, but also more female coaches, referees and officials active in football. We have a lot of catching up to do: clubs have only been open to women for around fifty years! In fact, it’s a nod to Madeleine Boll, the very first female player to be licensed in Switzerland, that the tournament’s mascot is called Maddli.
Listening to you, it sounds as though the Euro 2025 gets it just about right. Where do you see room for improvement, particularly with regards to the environment?
Of course, we can always do better. It’s important to ask the question about the real sustainability of these kinds of events. Should we be stricter? Can we prohibit teams from arriving by plane? Should we sell tickets only to Swiss audiences, to avoid long journeys? Football is very popular, and I think we should rather take advantage of this sport’s visibility to talk about sustainability, but also about inclusion, equality and respect.
This is the English translation of the interview conducted by Camille Marion for the May edition of the ATE Magazine. Camille is the Editor, Social Media Manager and Spokesperson for the Swiss green transport and environmental organisation ATE/VCS/ATA.