Fifa gets red card on greenwashing in Qatar World Cup claims

The Swiss advertising regulator has ruled that Fifa misled consumers by claiming the Qatar World Cup in 2022 was the first “fully carbon neutral” such event, in the latest sanction against so-called greenwashing.

Fifa, a signatory to the UN’s sport for climate framework, failed to provide “credible evidence of how all CO₂ emissions generated by the tournament could be offset in accordance with Swiss standards,” the Swiss Fairness Commission found.

Fifa’s claim included all the pollution associated with travel, accommodation, food and beverage for ticket holders, which it estimated at 3.63mn tonnes of CO₂, a calculation that was unverifiable.

The ruling stated that Fifa must “refrain in future from making the contested allegations” unless it could provide “full proof of the calculation . . . of all CO₂ emissions caused by the tournament, and proof that these CO₂ emissions have been fully offset”.

Carbon offsets are a contested method of compensating for carbon pollution, in part because of the difficulty in measurement or verification.

Complaints were submitted about the Fifa claims in the UK, France, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands in November, when advertising regulators passed the action on to the regulator in Switzerland, where Fifa is based.

“This should be the moment Fifa begins taking credible climate action, which must start with breaking ties with big polluters, such as their sponsors QatarEnergy and Qatar Airways,” said Frank Huisingh of Fossil Free Football, the organisation that submitted the complaint in the Netherlands.

Analysis from the independent not-for-profit group Carbon Market Watch said that Fifa had offset less than half of what was needed to support the claim of being carbon neutral.

One of the initiatives Fifa and the Qatar World Cup had intended to use to claim as the offset of half of its emissions was a solar plant, which did not appear to be registered under a standard nor third party certified.

The football association advertised its carbon-neutral claims on its website and social media pages, targeting international audiences.

Fifa argued the information was not intended as a commercial inducement but made in the interests of transparency. In its view “consumers were not in any way misled by the impugned claims” and that it is “aware that climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time. For this reason, it had made considerable efforts to combat the negative effects of such a tournament and to maximise its positive effects.”

The ruling is the latest of the controversies surrounding Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup since it was awarded the event in 2010, prompting accusations of bribery and “sportswashing” its human rights record including the treatment of migrant workers.

Andrew Simms, director of the New Weather Institute, the organisation that submitted the UK complaint against Fifa, said: “Sport continues to be used as a giant billboard by some of the biggest climate culprits to promote polluting products and lifestyles, threatening the future of athletes, fans and the sport itself.”

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