An Assessment on the Carbon Footprint of a Football Club—an Action Research from Theory to Practice

Abstract

There is a lack of academic literature that explores the evaluation of football club’s carbon footprints. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first study where the football’s club’s overall carbon footprints were assessed. This study’s main objectives were to measure the football club environmental impact and promote the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions for famous significant sports events such as the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) matches. The football club is a part of one of the biggest football clubs in Europe, which operates, manages, and maintains various facilities by assisting the football club in decision-making processes to identify the most relevant business engagement areas. The following research questions were considered: (a) What are the hotspots and the most significant contributors to GHG emissions of a football club? (b) How to improve emissions management within the stadium organization? (c) How to establish a carbon reduction and management plan? The researchers visited this stadium to collect data and interview managers of the football club. The GHG assessment results provide some relevant confirmation of the guidelines that emerged during the onsite visit. This study found that indirect emissions produced by a supporter’s transportation mode are equivalent to 38%, followed by energy consumption, accounting for 25% of the total GHG emissions. Specific future recommendations for sports organizations, such as (i) intermediate goal is to cut GHG emissions by at least 50% by 2030 and (ii) model scope 3 emissions and set scope 3 targets if scope 3 emissions account for 40% or more of their overall emissions, have emerged after this study.