FIFA made false claims about carbon neutrality at Qatar World Cup says regulator
According to a Swiss regulator, FIFA, the organization that governs football worldwide, provided inaccurate and deceptive information regarding the environmental impact of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The Swiss Fairness Commission, which oversees the advertising and communications industry, conducted an investigation into five allegations that FIFA, based in Zurich, promoted the event as carbon neutral.
The commission, which provides suggestions that are not legally binding, cautioned FIFA against making baseless assertions in the future. The commission stated that complainants typically comply with its recommendations voluntarily.
FIFA has not yet responded to a request for feedback.
According to the commission, complainants from Switzerland, France, Belgium, the UK, and the Netherlands accused FIFA of making untrue statements in its communications regarding carbon neutrality at the World Cup.
“The Second Chamber of the Commission has now upheld all five complaints following a complex process,” it added.
FIFA had advertised the Qatar World Cup as the initial tournament that would be entirely climate-friendly, pledging to decrease and balance out the carbon emissions it produced.
However, the Climate Alliance, a coalition of organizations that filed a complaint last year, was worried about the ecological consequences of constructing air-conditioned stadiums and the numerous fans who traveled by air to attend the event.
The commission, in its ruling, stated that sustainability objectives cannot be considered accomplished if there are no established and widely accepted methods for assessing them or ensuring that the necessary actions have been taken.
“FIFA was not able to provide proof that the claims were accurate during the proceedings as required by the commission,” it said.
Raphael Mahaim, a member of Lawyers for the Climate, expressed his satisfaction with the decision, stating that it revealed FIFA’s false claims of being environmentally conscious.
“FIFA said it was taking the climate change seriously, and taking the credit for this, and this wasn’t true,” he said.
FIFA’s assertions had a negative impact as they led to companies and individuals reducing their efforts to decrease their carbon footprint under the impression that FIFA had already compensated for it.
“Ultimately, false claims like this damage the campaign for carbon neutrality,” said Mahaim, who is also a Swiss MP for the Green Party.
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