The Swiss Fairness Commission (SLK) has ruled that Fifa made false statements about the reduced environmental impact of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Football’s world governing body had claimed that the tournament would be the first “fully carbon-neutral World Cup”. The SLK upheld complaints from five European nations, stating that Fifa was not able to provide proof that the claims were accurate during the proceedings. The regulator advised Fifa to refrain from making unsubstantiated claims in the future and not to claim that sustainability goals have been achieved if there are no definitive and generally accepted methods for measuring sustainability or ensuring sustainability measures have been implemented.
Fifa had stated that the World Cup had a footprint of 3.6 million tonnes of equivalent carbon waste, which was offset by a number of initiatives such as offsetting every ticketholder’s flight emissions and electric mobility for public transport around the tournament. However, environmentalists called Fifa’s carbon-neutral claim “dangerous and misleading” and warned the tournament could have a carbon footprint three times greater than stated. The complaints centred on the argument that Fifa’s claim of a carbon-neutral World Cup is false due to an underestimation of emissions and a lack of credibility in its offsets, which means consumers and fans are being misled.
The director of the UK-based environmental group New Weather Institute, Andrew Simms, says more needs to be done to eliminate greenwashing. He said: “Fifa has been found out for using false green claims as a substitute for real climate action. Regulators are slowly waking up to the scale of the issue and the threat it poses by sowing confusion to genuine efforts to tackle climate change. Big polluters are realising they are on borrowed time. But to protect people and nature, there’s an urgent need for more robust and proactive regulation to stamp out greenwashing and cut the harm done by high-carbon advertising. Sport continues to be used as a giant billboard by some of the biggest climate culprits to promote polluting products and lifestyles, threatening the future of athletes, fans and the sport itself. It’s time that sport, and its governing bodies like Fifa, used their power and position to accelerate the low-carbon transition, instead of delaying it and misleading the public in the process.” Fifa is yet to respond to the criticism.