In light of the current high awareness of planetary boundaries and social inequalities, sports federations and clubs, as well as sports-related companies, are now obliged to comply with ESG requirements following from mandatory sports federation regulations, and from public laws. Relevant examples include the sports-specific implementation of the national Supply Chain Sustainability Act (LkSG) or the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). When implementing ESG topics, further legal requirements must also be taken into account, e.g. when communicating corresponding measures (avoidance of ‘greenwashing’).
Our team has been using our extensive expertise in the area of sustainability/ESG in sport in German professional football. We advise clubs in the first and second Bundesliga and leagues on all ESG compliance issues.
We also have an extensive network of scientific and practical expertise, which we can use to efficiently and promptly introduce additional targeted solutions in the areas of software (e.g. for carbon accounting or data collection for ESG reporting) and evaluation and scoring (e.g. through scientific reports).
We are happy to support our clients on their endeavour to greater sustainability and ESG compliance, from concept and strategy planning, the creation or revision of regulations through to the legally compliant communication of the measures introduced.
Notable cases
- Supporting the German Football League (DFL) in the implementation of sustainability standards for the league’s own rules and regulations.
- Development and implementation of sustainability strategies and communication (e.g. with regards to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), CSRD, German and international supply chain laws) for Bundesliga clubs.
- Advice and contract drafting for ESG-based partnerships (purpose-lead sponsorships), development and implementation of human rights concepts/child protection concepts and sustainability reporting for Bundesliga clubs.
- Development of compliance management systems, including codes of conduct and sanction mechanisms to ensure integrity and good governance in sport for Bundesliga clubs.
- Organising workshops/training courses on all ESG topics for clubs and federations.
