FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been criticized. © APA / afp / KARIM JAAFAR
Proceedings are underway at the Swiss Commission on Integrity once morest the world football association FIFA following Swiss environmentalists filed a complaint regarding allegedly misleading regarding the climate neutrality of the World Cup in Qatar. “We can confirm that a corresponding procedure is pending with us,” said legal secretary Reto Inglin of the Swiss daily newspaper “Blick”.
December 25, 2022
From: dpa
The Swiss Climate Alliance is behind the complaint – its accusation is that FIFA is doing “climate greenwashing”. PR methods that sell an environmentally friendly image to the public without a sufficient basis for doing so.
Complaints from Great Britain, France and Belgium were also forwarded to the Swiss authorities, as FIFA has its headquarters in Zurich. Even before the start of the World Cup on November 20, Germany’s consumer advocates warned FIFA regarding “greenwashing” and demanded that “misleading” statements be deleted. If FIFA does not respond to this, they reserve the right to take legal action, it was said at the time.
FIFA rejects allegations
FIFA had advertised the World Cup on its website as the first “completely climate-neutral tournament”. However, research by various media, climate researchers and environmentalists came to the conclusion that FIFA’s climate claim was wrong. FIFA has repeatedly denied these allegations.
“We would like FIFA to invest its resources in avoiding emissions instead of in greenwashing,” said Christian Lüthi, Managing Director of Climate Alliance: “We are confident that the Commission will condemn FIFA’s violations of fair and thus a clear one sends a signal to world football’s governing body.”
The Swiss Integrity Commission is an independent self-regulatory foundation in the communications industry. It has clear principles for environmental statements in . The judgments of the fairness commission are not legally enforceable.
