Football Partners Support Transition Towards Goals of EU Green Deal
April 14th, 2023, Pisa: The FREE KICKS project, co-ordinated by the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies(SSSA), and in partnership with FC Porto, Fundación Real Betis Balompie, Malmö FF, Racing Club, RomanianFootball Federation and European Club Association (ECA), has launched and will address the topics ofcircular economy and environmental sustainability in football organisations.

No organisation in the football world has yet pursued the adoption of EU environmental management
tools, such as Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), EU Ecolabel, Product Environmental Footprint(PEF) or Organisation Environmental Footprint (OEF).
Against this backdrop, the FREE KICKS (Football Relies on EMAS and ECOLABEL to Keep Innovating on
Circularity as a Key for Sustainability) Project – co-funded by the European Union* – aims to trigger
football’s transition towards the goals of the Green Deal and the New Circular Economy Action Plan, atcollective and individual levels, by supporting:••

The uptake of leading-edge environmental management practices and sustainable organizationalmodels among national football associations and professional clubs, focusing on operational
activities
Climate-conscious and environment-friendly behavioural patterns among football organizations

Project coordinators, the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, will work with project partners on three
key task areas, to:
1. Assess the sustainability needs and environmental priorities of the participating footballorganisations, and three participating project partners will engage in obtaining EMAS (EcoManagement and Audit Scheme) registration during the project
2. Improve the environmental governance of the football supply chain in the participating footballorganizations
3. Calculate the environmental footprint of three partner football organizations through the PEF orOEF methodological standards of the European Commission using a life cycle analysis (LCA)
From these efforts each football organization with the support of SSSA and project partner ECA, will define
their own Environmental Improvement Plan.

Sport Positive, the London-based organisation that heads up world-leading Sport Positive Summit, Sport
Positive Leagues, The Climate of Sport Podcast, intelligence bulletins, media and support to increase action
and ambition on sustainability, climate change, biodiversity and environmental justice in sport, will support
the project as communication and dissemination partner. This role will include ensuring the learnings andtake-aways from project actions are shared with the world of football and sport, to encourage increased
action throughout the community.
Over the project’s 30-month duration, from February 2023 – August 2025, FREE KICKS partners will share
progress and learnings via dissemination moments including awareness raising events, a mid-term reportand conference, knowledge sharing via podcasts, social media, newsletters and videos and a final reportand conference detailing the findings and achievements of the project.
At the launch of the project, partners commented on their hopes for the project:
Teresa Santos, Sustainability Manager of FC Porto said “With FC Porto’s participation in the FREE KICKS
project, we are convinced it will be another lever for the continuous improvement of our environmentalperformance. Our experience in environmental management, acquired through the implementation of ISO
14001 within the FC Porto facilities, combined with the diverse know-how of the consortium partners, webelieve it will be an important contribution to motivate and achieve behavioural change and environmental
performance among sports organizations.”
Rafael Muela, General Manager at Fundación Real Betis said “This project is a new opportunity to learn andinnovate in sustainability from important partners such as the ECA and many other European clubs andfederations active in the fight against climate change through sustainable initiatives.”
Niclas Carlnén, CEO of Malmö FF commented: “At Malmö FF, we recognise the importance of advocating
for sustainability in football as a driver for impactful change and promotion of sustainable solutions. While
striving for sporting achievements and sporting successes, it is also important for our club to act as a rolemodel leading the development in our community and in society. Therefore, we are proud to take part inthe FREE KICKS project to keep innovating and to implement environmental management actions.”
Tiberio Daddi, associate professor at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, added: "The FREE KICKS
project represents a further step forward in the promotion of sustainable solutions for the world of football.
The Sustainability Management Laboratory at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies has extensive
experience in EMAS and PEF/OEF. Our research group, focused on Sports and Sustainability, looks forward
to applying these tools to football in collaboration with our high-level project Consortium.”* Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) onlyand do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EACEA. Neither the European Union nor thegranting authority can be held responsible for them.
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