Soccer: A green sport, or is that just the field?
With Euro 2016 in France in full swing, soccer is once again drawing crowds to the stadiums. But is there room for sustainability in the world's most popular game - or is the grass the greenest thing about soccer?
A profitable game
No sport is able to attract fans like soccer. With the Euro 2016 football championship underway in France, UEFA is expecting some 2.5 million spectators in stadiums from Paris to Marseille, and 150 million fans watching around the world. It's a lucrative business: 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in TV rights, advertising deals and ticket sales. But does this all come at the environment's expense?
Extra emissions
To take part in the FIFA World Cup in Uruguay in 1930, the French team took a 15-day boat trip to South America. Travel time today has been slashed: ever more, teams now arrive at international tournaments by plane. Iceland facing off against Portugal in the eastern French city of Saint-Étienne? A loss for the climate: A flight from Reykjavik to Paris spews as much CO2 as half a year of driving.
Model stadium
Stadiums have always been part of the game, from Wembley to the Allianz. But when it comes to environmentally friendly stadiums, FC Augsburg leads the way. Their home is carbon neutral: instead of artificially heating the pitch, the stadium makes use of naturally heated groundwater, saving 10,000 liters (2,640 gallons) of oil per match - the amount used by eight single-family homes in one year.
Energy producer
The Augsburg arena has a rival when it comes to environmental bragging rights: the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice, a Euro 2016 host venue, has since May 2013 produced more energy than it consumes, thanks to photovoltaic roof panels, a rainwater harvesting system and innovative ventilation columns. The stadium's construction also used 4,000 cubic meters (141,000 cubic feet) of renewable wood.
Waste separation? Not likely
Up to 80,000 spectators are expected for the Euro 2016 final at the Stade de France in Paris on July 10. That's a lot of beer and snacks: at the Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, the average fan generated about a kilogram (roughly 2 pounds) of waste per game. Only 18 percent of that trash was recycled, according to UEFA's "Social Responsibility Report."
Have another round
Of course, beer and soccer go hand-in-hand: around 10 million cups are downed every year in Germany's two professional leagues. In the 2015 and 2016 season, more than half of those cups were of the disposable variety. But at the European championship in France, UEFA plans to use reusable cups in eight of the 10 stadiums - also in Nice.
Balls in bulk
A key part of soccer is, of course, the ball. Hand-sewn balls are produced in a factory in Sialkot, in eastern Pakistan - 60 million in one European Championship year alone. The latex used for the inside of the ball is shipped in from rubber plantations in Southeast Asia, only a few of which are sustainably managed. Eco-conscious balls have yet to bounce their way into the world of football.