As English fans get set to cross Europe, anger rises at football’s carbon bootprint

(The Guardian, 11 May 2019) Planes going to the finals in Spain and Azerbaijan will emit 35,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide – climate activists want change.

Controversy has erupted over the environmental impact of football fans travelling across Europe in coming weeks – to watch English sides play each other hundreds of miles from home.

Campaigners say staging games between Liverpool and Tottenham in Madrid and Arsenal and Chelsea in Baku, in Azerbaijan, will trigger the release of thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide from planes carrying supporters to the Champions League and Europa League finals.

At a time of heightened fears over the impact of climate change, caused by rising fossil fuel emissions, the matches’ effect on the environment is seen by many as dangerous and inexcusable. And others warn that the problem will get worse next year when the Euro 2020 finals are held in a new transcontinental format that will greatly increase the amount of travel for supporters as their teams move back and forth across Europe.

The problem was summed up by Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green party. “With Arsenal and Chelsea each being given just 6,000 seats, and sitting just a few miles apart in the capital, surely we are missing an open goal by not hosting the final in London. Packing thousands of fans on to flights is damaging to the environment. The 45,000 fans travelling to both finals will emit around 35,490 tonnes of carbon dioxide. It’s time Uefa did better.”

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The Guardian, 11 May 2019: As English fans get set to cross Europe, anger rises at football’s carbon bootprint