UEFA outlines sustainability strategy after joining Football for the Goals

Michele Uva, director of sustainability at UEFA, said UEFA joined Football for the Goals in July 2022 as the initiative’s first signatory company and outlined an 11-policy approach intended to advance the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals across the football ecosystem.

Uva said football’s global reach — about 3 billion fans and millions of coaches and players — gives the sport a platform to promote social and environmental objectives. “Football is the largest platform in the world,” Uva said.

Uva described UEFA’s strategy as composed of 11 internal policies: seven focused on human rights and four on environmental topics. He said the organization seeks to integrate human-rights and environmental commitments so that the policies “talk to each other,” producing positive behavior across UEFA and its stakeholders.

He summarized UEFA’s priorities as transparency, commitment and engagement, saying the organization wants to accelerate those three goals to help create “a better future in football” and to increase impact in civil society.

The remarks did not include specific new programs, budget figures or implementation deadlines. No formal votes or actions were recorded in the provided transcript excerpt. The statements were descriptive of UEFA’s membership in Football for the Goals and of its stated policy priorities, but did not specify timelines, funding sources or enforcement mechanisms.

Additional context: Football for the Goals is an initiative tied to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); Uva framed UEFA’s participation as a means to share best practices and engage the sport’s global stakeholders in the SDG agenda.