The German Football League (DFL), which governs the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, has announced that its member clubs will vote in December whether to incorporate sustainability as a part of the licensing process. As a result, the Bundesliga aims to become the first environmentally sustainable football league in the world. The decision to include environmental sustainability in the DFL’s licensing program, which is part of its long-term goal to become carbon-neutral, is one result of the “Taskforce for the Future of Professional Football.” Environmental sustainability is one of the key topics on which the task force, combining 36 experts from sport, society, politics and business, has worked for over six months. The DFL said that its goal is to anchor sustainability-oriented initiatives to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as part of its licensing program by 2022/23. Then the following year, the governing body intends to introduce incentives but also sanctions should a club fail to meet the minimum criteria.

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