Award for Sustainability in Sports: Entries accepted from now until March 15

Photo of the green pitch, corner of the goal visible on the right
Photo: DFL/Getty Images/Sebastian Widmann

15 February 2023 – Entries can now be submitted for the second edition of the Award for Sustainability in Sports (“Award für Nachhaltigkeit im Sport”). The application process closes on 15 March, and the presentation of the award will take place on 31 May at the SPOBIS Conference in Düsseldorf. The accolade was launched last year by SPOBIS (formerly SPONSORs) with support from DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga.

This time, the award will again recognise projects across all types of sport that make a particularly sustainable impact in four categories – ‘Athlete’, ‘Club & Association’, ‘Venue & Event’ and ‘Company’. To be eligible, a project must have been implemented or launched in the DACH region no earlier than January 2022. Entries can be submitted via the following website: sport-nachhaltigkeit.de (website in German).

Following the submission phase, entries will be narrowed down to three finalists in each category by the SPOBIS editorial staff prior to the awards ceremony on 31 May. The winners will be chosen by an independent jury comprising representatives from the fields of sport, business, science and NGOs.

The DFL’s support for the Award for Sustainability in Sport is the result of various factors, including the fact that the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 are the first major professional football leagues to incorporate binding sustainability criteria in their licensing regulations. Further information on the topic of sustainability in connection with professional football can be found here, for example.

The 2022 Award Winners:

  • ‘Athlete’ category: Neven Subotic (former elite footballer and Bundesliga winner) with the project ‘100 % Wash’
  • ‘Company’ category: ‘Raydio’ – Inclusion through audio reports (mycrocast GmbH)
  • ‘Venue & Events’ category: 1. FSV Mainz 05 with the project ‘05er Klimaverteidiger-Woche’ (05 Climate Protection Week)
  • ‘Club & Association’ category: FC Internationale Berlin 1980 e.V. with the project ‘Interaction’