From Aims to Outcomes

Since its original launch in 2021, Strength Through Unity has helped embed sustainability as a core responsibility across European football. The 2026 upgrade sharpens that focus, placing greater emphasis on “measurable, comparable and credible outcomes” across social impact, environmental stewardship and responsible management.

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin framed the update as both an opportunity and a responsibility for European football:

“Football has an unmatched ability to mobilise people, amplify messages and accelerate change. With one of the largest communities in Europe, we have both an opportunity and a responsibility to use that reach for lasting positive impact.”

This strategic shift is backed by scale. Between 2021 and 2025, UEFA invested close to €90 million in sustainability initiatives, supporting around 590 projects across its member associations. The upgraded framework aims to ensure that this investment translates into long-term, systemic impact rather than isolated examples of good practice.

From Sustainability to Impact Performance

A notable evolution in the updated strategy is UEFA’s reframing of sustainability as “impact performance”. This reflects a broader recognition that sustainability narratives, while important, are no longer enough in a landscape increasingly shaped by scrutiny around greenwashing and social-washing.

The upgraded approach is anchored in three guiding principles: system integrity, targeted capital allocation and contextual relevance. Together, these pillars are designed to strengthen trust and credibility, focus resources where football can generate the greatest social return, and ensure shared standards are applied while respecting cultural diversity.

At an operational level, UEFA is seeking to move decisively from narrative-based reporting to execution-led delivery, underpinned by clearer KPIs, comparable data and independent assurance. This includes strengthening governance, embedding sustainability into event delivery and licensing systems, and scaling tools and guidance across national associations and competitions.

Eleven Policies, One Ecosystem

At the heart of the 2026 upgrade remain eleven interconnected policy areas, structured around three overarching ambitions: delivering social impact, respecting the environment and championing responsible management. These span anti-discrimination, child and youth protection, equality and inclusion, climate action, circular economy, event sustainability and infrastructure development.

Notably, UEFA has broadened its anti-racism policy into a wider anti-discrimination framework, reflecting a more holistic approach to inclusion across European football. Child and youth protection continues to scale, supported by dedicated safeguarding platforms and training tools deployed across member associations.

On the environmental side, UEFA reports that 100% of its events now undergo carbon footprint measurement, with reduction plans in place and a gradual shift away from reliance on traditional offsetting towards mitigation measures beyond the value chain.

Scaling Impact Across European Football

A central theme of the strategy upgrade is the move from top-down momentum to bottom-up delivery. UEFA is seeking to activate its full ecosystem—55 national associations, leagues, clubs, players, fans and commercial partners—so that sustainability becomes embedded within everyday football operations rather than remaining a centralised policy function.

This includes integrating sustainability criteria into club licensing, event bidding processes and infrastructure standards, alongside capacity-building initiatives that support national associations in developing their own strategies, measurement systems and delivery frameworks. The ambition is clear: sustainability is being repositioned as a core value driver for European football, not an add-on.

From Activity to Impact – and Beyond Football

As UEFA moves from strategy refresh to delivery mode, the real challenge will be translating a growing volume of sustainability activity into demonstrable, comparable impact. European football has made visible progress in embedding ESG principles into events, governance and funding mechanisms, but the next phase will be defined less by what is done, and more by what can be evidenced. In an environment where regulators, commercial partners and fans are demanding proof, the credibility of sport’s sustainability agenda will increasingly rest on robust data, transparent reporting and outcomes that stand up to independent scrutiny.

That shift is clearly recognised within UEFA itself. Michele Uva, UEFA’s Executive Director of Social and Environmental Sustainability, has been explicit that leadership in this space is no longer about intent, but about performance:

“Upgrading Strength Through Unity is our chance to ensure we translate ambition into tangible impact. Our aim is to build on the significant progress already delivered and and reinforce our focus on execution, measurement and accountability.”

UEFA’s evolution from activity to impact performance points towards a broader challenge facing global sport. While football is beginning to develop common languages, KPIs and reporting mechanisms, the wider sporting ecosystem remains fragmented, with no shared standard framework for measuring social, environmental and economic impact across events, leagues and federations.

If sport is to move beyond pockets of best practice and demonstrate its true value to society, the next frontier will be collaboration around common measurement approaches — enabling benchmarking, learning and accountability not just within football, but across the global sports community.