2025 in review: Driving impact beyond the pitch
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Article summary
We continued to champion a proactive approach to sustainability in 2025, embedding an unprecedented amount of environmental, social and governance activities across our flagship events, launching new resources and uniting stakeholders with shared goals.
Article top media content
Article body
Over the past 12 months we’ve placed sustainability at the core of our flagship competitions – not least Women’s EURO 2025 – while hosting unique events such as the Respect Forum and launching new resources such as our Take Care programme.
Beyond the elite level of the game, another edition of the Unity EURO Cup showcased the transformative power of football, while the UEFA Foundation for Children celebrated its 10th birthday in 2025 – providing an opportunity to not only reflect on a decade of impact but to reaffirm our support for vulnerable children around the world.
Women’s EURO 2025 sets new benchmarks
UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 in Switzerland had sustainability built in at every level, thanks to a dedicated environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy centred around three overarching goals: reducing the tournament’s environmental impact, safeguarding and honouring the rights of all individuals, and embracing transparent, responsible and accountable practices across all tournament operations.
These goals translated into 47 targets and 97 individual actions. Before the first opening match between the hosts and Norway had even kicked off, we signed a joint human rights declaration with the Swiss federal government, the host cities and the Swiss Football Association (SFA), committing all parties to promoting respect and preventing discrimination, alongside setting up a grievance reporting mechanism and an online abuse monitoring programme.
We helped to make low-carbon travel the easiest and most accessible travel option for fans, working with local authorities to provide free matchday public transport and hundreds of additional train services for match goers during the tournament. Overall, 86% of ticket holders used sustainable travel methods to reach the host stadiums, all eight of which adopted sustainable signage and food packaging practices.
To ensure the tournament was fully open to everyone, audio-descriptive commentary was provided for all 31 matches, nearly 1,400 accessible tickets were sold and a team of 53 accessibility volunteers provided support at the stadiums.
A post-event ESG report summarising performance against targets set for the tournament was released in November 2025.
Read the 2024/25 Respect Report
The UEFA Respect Report provides a comprehensive overview of our sustainability actions across the most recent season. Read the full report here.
Leading by example
We continued to raise the bar for sustainability at our flagship club finals, too. Across the finals of the UEFA Champions League, Women’s Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, we implemented a record 315 sustainability initiatives. Among those new for 2025 were a full roll-out of carbon emission labelling at stadium kiosks; formal human rights declarations signed by relevant stakeholders at all events, and the adoption of a child and youth protection policy.
At the Champions League final in Munich, the second edition of our Champions Innovate programme helped deliver tangible impact in the host city. The programme paired two start-ups – FC Urban and Equip Sport – with UEFA partners to pilot projects that each help promote physical activity and access to sport.
The Youth League final in Nyon, meanwhile, marked another notable milestone: the first car-free UEFA final. Parking was restricted to two-wheeled vehicles and spaces for people with reduced mobility, while alternative travel options were made easily available, including park-and-ride bus facilities, electric scooters, bicycles and a free shuttle service linking Nyon railway station with the stadium.
Celebrating a decade of changing children’s lives
The UEFA Foundation for Children marked its 10th birthday in style, with national associations invited to support local projects that use sport to help vulnerable children. A special €1m fund was distributed equally among participating associations to support those efforts, with new initiatives kicking off across the continent.
Ten-year celebrations also took place at our competition finals, where the Foundation continued its proud record of giving young children unforgettable experiences through free match tickets, player meet and greets, or the opportunity to step onto the pitch as player and referee mascots.
10 years of the UEFA Foundation
- 577 projects funded
- €54m in grants
- 5.71 million children benefited
- 147 countries
- 90,000 footballs distributed
- 39,788 children invited to attend UEFA matches
2025 in review
Championing inclusion through football
The fourth edition of the Unity EURO Cup took place in the Netherlands in October – our annual celebration of football’s power to unite communities, regardless of background.
Organised by UEFA in collaboration with UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), teams made up of refugees and players from their host communities compete in a mixed-gender event that puts the spotlight on sport’s vital role in facilitating social inclusion. Eighteen teams took part this year, with Finland defeating Armenia in the final to lift the trophy for a second time.
On the eve of the tournament, the Royal Netherlands Football Association hosted a forum showcasing how refugees’ skills and experiences are enriching both football and their host communities. Participants included speakers from UNHCR, the European Commission, the Dutch government and non-governmental organisations.
Refugee voices from across Europe
Our efforts to improve social inclusion in and through football in 2025 also encompassed supporting Football Supporters Europe with the creation of The Disability & Inclusion Fan Network. The network advocates for more inclusive and accessible stadiums across all 55 UEFA member associations.
Collective action
More than 250 stakeholders and sustainability experts from national associations, leagues, clubs, commercial partners and other sectors gathered at Zurich’s Letzigrund Stadium in May for the UEFA Respect Forum. Across panel discussions, group workshops and inspirational presentations, participants discussed how to advance football’s positive impact beyond the pitch.
The event reflected a growing, diverse community united by a shared purpose, and acted as a powerful demonstration of how we can use our unique position as a governing body to promote sustainability initiatives across European football.
This year’s FootbALL Awards were also presented at the event, honouring recipients for their commitment to inclusivity, anti-discrimination and community-driven initiatives.
The winners of the 2025 UEFA FootbALL Awards
- The Ukrainian Association of Football, for the League of the Mighty amputee football initiative
- The English Premier League, for their Community Captain Programme
- Everton FC and Liverpool FC, for joint condemnation of racist abuse
- Carolina Morace, member of European Parliament and former player, for her gender equality advocacy
Promoting health and well-being
In February, we launched Take Care, a programme focused on using football to promote healthier lifestyles and positive habits across Europe, particularly among children and young people. It’s a powerful demonstration of how football can be a platform for not only physical health, but also mental well-being and social awareness.
Comprising six modules, each providing a toolbox of practical resources on an aspect of daily life, Take Care is tailored for influential figures such as parents or caregivers, teachers and coaches to encourage healthier lifestyles and more positive habits, creating a ripple effect as individuals inspire others.
Take Care
Six modules addressing important and interconnected areas of daily life:
- Physical activity
- Nutrition
- Mental health
- Digital addiction
- Road safety
- Substance awareness
Five modules were released over the course of 2025 and are freely available on UEFA.com, with the sixth and final module set to launch in early 2026. Each is underpinned by expert scientific research and features multi-format educational resources, with contributions from some of the world’s best-known players.
A growing toolkit of environmental resources
In June, we launched a dedicated embodied carbon emissions methodology to help national associations, leagues and clubs measure the wider carbon emissions generated by the construction of football infrastructure – often misunderstood or not addressed fully. The methodology was developed based on work with the Carbon Trust, and has been directly integrated into the UEFA Carbon Footprint Calculator.
The tool is just one part of our overall approach to reducing European football’s and our own environmental impact, which we refined this year with the release of the UEFA Carbon Reduction Plan. The plan sets out a framework for shifting from traditional offsetting towards genuine reductions in line with our Race to Zero commitment, maintaining our goal to halve our greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
In October we also launched a joint sustainability cooperation plan with European Football Clubs (EFC). The plan covers the 2025/26 and 2026/27 seasons, aiming to help clubs treat sustainability as a strategic investment that protects and generates long-term value.
Environmental leadership
In June, UEFA received the Environmental Leadership Award at the Green Sports Alliance Summit. The award was given in recognition of our ongoing efforts to integrate responsible environmental practices and advance sustainability within the sports industry.
Moving into the second half of our Strength through Unity 2030 sustainability strategic period, our guiding focus is anticipating challenges rather than simply reacting to them. Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, we are committed to embedding sustainability even more deeply in European football, and continuously evaluating our goals to ensure we remain realistic yet ambitious.