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Top storyUEFA celebrates sustainability success at Euro 2024
The group stage of this year’s UEFA European Championship has concluded and brought with it a 75% decrease in the number of flights taken by participating sides compared with the 2016 edition.
This is down to more teams using buses and trains to travel between the tournament’s 10 venues in Germany.
Reducing air travel of competing squads was a primary sustainability goal for UEFA and is said to have been achieved thanks to close cooperation with national associations.
The governing body also stated that supporters have been able to follow their teams in a more environmentally friendly way.
“Fans have also travelled sustainably around Germany, supported by a partnership with Deutsche Bahn, which has sold over 200,000 Euro 2024 tickets at reduced prices,” read a statement from the organisation.
“More than 500,000 Fan Pass Users have activated their public transport tickets to get around the host cities and their surroundings.”
However, some fans have voiced their complaints about transportation issues, particularly around the match between England and Serbia in Gelsenkirchen’s Arena AufSchalke, which has an international capacity of 54,740.
Supporters experienced long and crowded lines for trams, which ran every 15 minutes, to and from the stadium for England’s 1-0 win, while late delays added to the ire.
Reports emerged of some deciding to walk six kilometres from the city centre to the stadium along a main road.
Others were then waiting at Gelsenkirchen’s main train station for three hours after the final whistle because of delays.
City Treasurer Luidger Wolterhoff defended the transport options, saying that “the railway connections worked and the extra bus connections laid on worked”.
In terms of social sustainability, UEFA has reported further positive signs.
Its expanded audio-descriptive commentary service has received more than 18,000 total visitors.
Abusive social media posts have also faced scrutiny, with 308 found eligible to be reported to platforms for removal. Some 71% of these have been actioned by the social media sites, with reported posts removed after an average of 75 minutes.
Image: Deutsche Bahn