UEFA told to ban Champions League away fans in radical climate change shake-up

Former UEFA chief Patrick Gasser wants to put a stop to away fans travelling all over Europe for Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League matches in a bid to help football cut its impact on the climate. Gasser’s pleas come just a year before the European football calendar will be expanded even further with the Champions League moving to a 36-team tournament.

Teams competing in all three European competitions will play even more matches, resulting in an even bigger carbon footprint. It was only in 2020 when UEFA committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040 and a 50 per cent reduction by 2030.

“Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing society today and we have unfortunately witnessed how flooding and unseasonable weather patterns have lately devastated infrastructure across the world,” said UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin. “The transition to a thriving, green economy is imperative and UEFA must be part of the solution. Football can play an important role in implementing new standards in this respect and raising awareness across the globe.

But UEFA’s radical changes to the club competition formats mean changes will have to be made to keep their pledge to improve its climate impact. Gasser is UEFA’s former head of social responsibility and he suggests one way of doing that would be to stop away fans from travelling to matches all over Europe.

“You could have a no away ticket allocation during the group games, the knockout phase,” he told the BBC. “I would make an exception for the finals.

“I think we need to look at fundamental behaviour change and I think that would be a good way to start.” The suggestion is unlikely to prove popular among the very fans who travel across the globe to support their team.

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Football matches are also renowned for the atmosphere created by having away supporters inside the stadium. David Wheeler, the PFA’s sustainability spokesperson, insists UEFA have exacerbated the climate problem themselves by expanding the football calendar.

“They are not leading on this – they are not separate to society. Everything they do has an impact on the environment,” he said. “The way they are behaving suggests they think they are above that. It almost gives license to clubs, or even anyone in society, that you can do what you want.

“Instead of being a positive force for good they are exacerbating the problem and pushing us towards a very serious situation with a climate emergency. A lot of it [the tournament expansion] seems to be greed. Those organisations and many clubs want to make as much money as possible, regardless of the harm caused.”

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