Sustainability reporting in sport: what the UEFA playbook says, and how to use it

By Géraldine Heinen28 August 202610 min read

On 26 March 2026, UEFA published its Football Sustainability Reporting Playbook, a practical guide for national associations, leagues and clubs to structure their sustainability reporting. The document is aimed first of all at football, but its method applies to any sports organisation that wants to report on its environmental, social and governance impact. This article, written on the basis of the playbook, presents its key ideas and shows how a federation, a league or a club can use it right away.

1. Why this playbook, and why now

Expectations in terms of transparency and responsibility are rising everywhere: from public authorities, sponsors, supporters, the media and sports bodies themselves. In football, reporting requirements have evolved with the update of UEFA's club licensing regulations. The playbook responds to this context: it provides a practical framework, aligned with UEFA's "Strength Through Unity" sustainability strategy, with reporting principles, improvement roadmaps, a summary of international standards and lessons learned from a benchmark. It incorporates UEFA's own lessons learned and is intended to be usable by any organisation, whatever its size or maturity.

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2. Reporting as a strategic tool, not a chore

The central message of the playbook fits in one sentence: reporting should not be seen as a mere compliance requirement, but as a strategic tool. Clear reporting strengthens decision-making, helps identify areas for improvement, guides investment, builds stakeholder trust and prepares for possible third-party verification. In other words, it is not a document produced at the end of the year to please someone: it is what makes it possible to know whether the actions taken are having an effect, and to decide on the next ones.

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3. The six steps of a sustainability approach

The playbook places reporting within a six-step process, of which it is the last:

1. Secure the commitment of the leadership: without ownership by the committee or the board, nothing lasts.
2. Appoint a dedicated team, even a small one, with an identified lead.
3. Develop and publish a strategy: the priorities, the objectives, the time horizon.
4. Implement an action plan that translates the strategy into concrete projects.
5. Measure and analyse the data: collect, compare, understand.
6. Report and communicate the impact, internally and externally.

This sequence echoes the one we describe for safeguarding in our 5-step toolkit: commitment first, measurement and follow-up at the end. The two approaches reinforce each other, and the playbook in fact lists child protection among the social topics to cover.

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4. The eight principles of credible reporting

For a report to be useful and credible, the playbook retains eight principles:

• Materiality: report only on the topics that really matter to the organisation and its stakeholders.
• Proportionality: the reporting effort matches the organisation's capacities.
• Understandability: clear language, without technical jargon.
• Accuracy and reliability: factual data, based on evidence.
• Comparability: consistent indicators from one year to the next.
• Completeness: all the required information is present.
• Neutrality: a balanced report, which does not select only the good news.
• Forward-looking information: realistic future actions, not promises.

The principles of proportionality and understandability are the ones that most reassure small organisations: a first report of four pages, honest and readable, is worth more than a fifty-page document nobody will read.

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5. Three maturity levels: start where you are

The playbook does not ask an amateur club to do what a Champions League club does. It distinguishes three levels, each broken down for federations, leagues and clubs, with examples of objectives, actions and narrative.

Three elements evolve from one level to the next: the target audience (from internal stakeholders to investors and regulators), materiality (from informal prioritisation to formal double materiality) and alignment with standards (from basic principles to full adherence).

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6. The topics to cover: environment, social, governance

The playbook organises the topics according to the ESG logic, consistent with European standards.

Environment: climate change and energy management, circular economy and waste reduction, water consumption and marine resources, biodiversity and ecosystems, pollution management.

Social: the organisation's own workforce (health, safety, diversity, training, pay), workers in the value chain, affected communities and cultural rights, users and consumers, with child protection explicitly mentioned.

Governance: business conduct and organisational culture, anti-corruption and ethics, data governance and transparency.

For a sports organisation, this grid has one merit: it reminds us that sustainability is not limited to reusable cups. The well-being of volunteers, the protection of young people, the accessibility of facilities or the integrity of governing bodies are fully part of it.

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7. SMART indicators rather than intentions

The playbook insists on the quality of indicators. A good indicator is SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. The example given speaks for itself: "reduce the stadium's energy consumption by 25% by 2030 compared with the 2022 baseline" is an objective; "improve energy performance" is not. Each indicator requires a reference year (the baseline) to allow comparison from one year to the next, and a defined calculation method, aligned with national or international standards.

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8. The reference standards, explained simply

The playbook summarises the frameworks that structure sustainability reporting in Europe. In a few words:

• GRI (Global Reporting Initiative): the most widespread voluntary framework in the world, organised by topic.
• CSRD (European corporate sustainability reporting directive): the obligation, for large companies in the European Union, to publish detailed ESG information verified by a third party.
• ESRS (European sustainability reporting standards): the standards that specify what the CSRD requires, and which introduce double materiality, that is to say the analysis of both the organisation's impact on society and the environment, and the impact of sustainability issues on the organisation.
• VSME (voluntary standard for SMEs): a simplified version, in two modules (basic and comprehensive), designed for small organisations. It is the most realistic entry point for most clubs and federations.
• ISO 14001, 20121, 45001, 50001: the standards for environmental management, sustainable events, occupational health and safety and energy management.

The document completes this overview with appendices on European regulation (Green Deal, taxonomy, CSDDD, UEFA club licensing) and with UEFA's own tools: carbon footprint calculator, guidelines for sustainable infrastructure and for accessibility, anti-racism toolkit.

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9. What the benchmark of 128 European clubs reveals

The playbook draws on an analysis of 128 European clubs. A third of them (33%) publish a sustainability report, 29% communicate information online without a structured report, and 38% publish nothing. The detailed analysis of 42 reports shows that climate change mitigation (almost 98% of clubs), waste and organisational culture (95%) are the most covered topics, while workers in the value chain (14%), air pollution and biodiversity (26%) remain largely undocumented. Above all, only 12% of clubs set quantified targets on the environment, fewer than 7% on social matters and fewer than 4% on governance. In other words, many tell the story, few measure. That is precisely the gap the playbook wants to help close.

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10. Where to start for a sports organisation

For a federation, a league or a club, the playbook translates into a few concrete decisions. First, have the approach carried by the committee and appoint a lead, even part-time. Then choose three to five topics that are really material for the organisation (for example travel, the energy of facilities, the protection of young people, inclusion, governance) rather than trying to cover everything. Then set a SMART indicator with a reference year for each, and collect the data over a season. Finally, publish a first short, honest and readable report, drawing on the basic module of the VSME standard, before aiming for the intermediate level the following year.

This is exactly the type of work we do in our strategic consulting and impact projects support: structuring a strategy and an action plan, defining measurable objectives and indicators, and writing internal policies and impact reports suited to the size of the organisation. Whether you are starting from a blank page or from a first report to consolidate, let's talk.

Source: UEFA, Football Sustainability Reporting Playbook (PDF) and launch press release of 26 March 2026.

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