Idols of the ball, villains of the climate: the climate emergency does not reach the soccer bubble

When the summit in Egypt against the serious threat of climate change has not yet ended, attention is already raised towards the World Cup in Qatar, which has not yet begun, the great party of some soccer idols who do not stand out for their commitment against global warming .

Many of the World Cup figures such as Lionel Messi, Neymar Junior, Cristiano Ronaldo or Robert Lewandowski have become millionaires thanks to football and form part of the small percentage of humanity that triggers the emissions that warm the Earth.

According to a recent study published in

, since 1990 the 50% of the world's population with the least resources have been responsible for 16% of the increase in gases that cause climate change, while the 1% of the richest have generated 23 %.

In the case of these global sports stars, it is not only their luxury cars and private jets that draw attention, but in many cases their undisguised indifference towards the climate emergency, a huge problem for humanity caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

The echo of Kylian Mbappé's laughter still resonates, a few months ago, when asked at a press conference why his team had used the plane for a short trip that could be made by train, a means of transport with much fewer emissions.

With some very rare exceptions, high-level football continues to be shared as a big bubble that doesn't want to find out about climate change.

“Most brands want to convince that they have a sustainable intention, even if it is not true, but footballers do not even have the slightest interest in doing so,” criticizes Nico Ordozgoiti, creative director of the advertising agency We Are Social.

“They live in a bubble, they are usually young, men, they live in a toxic culture of group pressure, and in that environment this message is laughed at.

But a footballer who had a sustainable message would have much more impact than all the activists who stick to pictures.

Any activist would kill for Messi or Mbappé to say something about environmental awareness.

Why don't players talk about this topic?

EL PAÍS has consulted several active footballers and their clubs, and none of them have wanted to make statements on the climate issue, a topic that they usually do not touch on in their interviews.

Yes, the former soccer player Jorge Valdano, who won the 1986 World Cup with Argentina, has spoken: "For me, climate change is a very important issue, it is no longer about future generations, but about effects that are reaching us now."

For the Argentine, "soccer does nothing more than represent what happens in society, wealth is increasingly concentrated in a few, and that also happens in soccer, a few great teams earn fortunes while mid-level teams live well but far from being able to afford private planes”.

Valdano criticizes that movements are not being made to raise awareness among footballers, who are a social example.

"That movement should come from the clubs, which would have to explain that some behaviors have a delicate social effect in terms of climate change."

An active star in women's football, Vero Boquete, former captain of the Spanish team and current player for Fiorentina, also shows his interest in this matter.

"I am very aware of climate change, in fact I go to training by bicycle, because I also live nearby and I don't have fame problems."

This player assures that for the great male idols it is not so simple.

"On the one hand, there are brand interests, since they sponsor the teams, and on the other, the players don't want to be labeled as hypocrites, because in the end they all have cars and travel by plane every weekend."

In her opinion, it would have to be the clubs and federations that should promote this change.

Messi, with an Argentina shirt sponsored by the oil company YPF. ALI HAIDER (EFE)

In fact, oil companies, car manufacturers and airlines are some of the most common sponsors of the biggest soccer teams.

The players of Real Madrid, Arsenal, Milan and Benfica, for example, all advertise the Emirates airline on their shirts.

"Big clubs give global visibility, which is why these big brands choose them," says Carlos Cantó, author of the Sports Sponsorship Barometer.

In the case of the teams that attend the World Cup, FIFA does not allow the teams to go out and play with advertising in official competitions, but they also have sponsors, who promote in other ways.

When Messi trains, his shirt bears the initials of YPF, the country's main oil company.

And last October Aerolineas Argentinas,

YPF and the Argentine Football Association presented the plane of the Argentine Football Team, which has the image of Messi on its tail.

Meanwhile, more than twenty European organizations ask to ban advertising related to fossil fuels, planes or polluting cars at sporting events, as happened in the past with tobacco.

"Iberia sponsors the flights of the [Spanish] team and the team travels with them," says Cantó.

La Roja precisely got on a plane last September to travel from Madrid to Zaragoza (274 kilometers), when this journey can be done by train in one hour and 20 minutes.

In this case, although it was only days after Mbappé's loud laughter, no one asked at the press conference about the relevance of the means of transport used.

The flight was only 10 minutes less (not counting waiting and trips to the airport), but polluted 10 to 20 times more.

With an extensive network of high-speed trains in Spain, Renfe confirms that it has agreements with more than 100 clubs and federations of various sports in the country, as well as with teams such as Betis (in the First Division) and Leganés (in the Second Division), in addition to others who prefer not to make public.

However, three football giants like Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético use the plane even for short distances.

Greenpeace carried out an analysis of the trips to the 2019/20 league championship: "In a Betis-Real Madrid game, Madrid went to Seville by plane, but on the way back, Betis went to Madrid by AVE," says Adrián Fernández, from the environmental organization.

La Liga has no travel policy, but it does advise clubs to try to make it "more sustainable".

Also,

car collections

Beyond the trips of the teams, some footballers have no problem showing their collections of high-end polluting cars and private planes on their social networks.

"Associating the image of cars and planes with such famous figures strengthens and normalizes these products, and raises an aspirational scale for the rest of the population and generates status anxiety for the less well-off social classes," says David Lois, professor of Social Psychology at UNED.

Cristiano Ronaldo with one of his cars in an image shared by the footballer on his Instagram account.

Carlos María Alcover, professor of Social Psychology at the URJC, agrees: “Many people internalize that having a big car, no matter what it pollutes, is a model of success.

The car gives status, it is a symbol of power, especially for men”.

In his opinion, that permeates people: “What is declared is one thing and what is thought is another.

Although many people say that they want to be more sustainable, in reality they would like to have a similar car”.

Ubaldo Cuesta, director of the Complutense Master's in Advertising, third: "The influence of these social leaders occurs in a subtle way, with vicarious learning, that is, with frames of reference that remain unconscious and that you, who you admire, you end up imitating.

You will not have a luxury car, but you will want to have a car.

The more you admire the footballer, the more likely it is that he will imbibe his way of life ”.

Jaime Gil Lafuente, professor of Marketing at the University of Barcelona, ​​points out that polluting brands are associated with clubs so that their image appears at all hours and is normalized: "One of the rules of neuromarketing is that any element that you see often you consider it familiar and accept it.”

Taking advantage of this pull leads car brands to sponsor the big teams and give new vehicles each year to the players on the squad —which they must then return— so that they can show them off upon arrival at training.

BMW does it with Real Madrid, Cupra with FC Barcelona and Hyundai with Atlético.

Footballers tend to choose highly polluting sports models, although something is beginning to change: all Madrid footballers received an electric car, as well as those of Bayern Munich, sponsored by Audi, while Hyundai explains that the Atléticos have requested hybrid and electric models .

Any other way of getting around than by car sounds disruptive in top-level football.

This is demonstrated by the commotion that arose when Gerard Piqué went to Barcelona training on an electric bicycle (in 2018 and 2020), or when his teammate Marc-André ter Stegen has ever been seen traveling on public transport.

"The metro works very well and is faster than the car," he said in 2019. Although it is normal for both to travel by car.

David Lois asks precisely to use these stars in institutional campaigns to promote sustainable mobility: "If footballers came out talking about getting around on public transport, cycling or walking it would be very positive."

David Moscoso, professor of Sport Sociology at the University of Córdoba, points out that "social changes in the field of football are very slow" and also "there is still climate denialism in the lower social strata, which are precisely the most football followers and soccer players”, as shown by the

.

"Not making an express allusion to climate change prevents the players from generating a certain animosity in a part of their fans," he adds.

Although contrary signs are also beginning to be seen: Mbappé's mockery of sustainable mobility generated strong social criticism and it is unlikely that it will be repeated in public.

The publicist Ordozgoiti, a member of Creatives for the future, sums it up like this: “Many people found it disturbing that they not only do nothing, but also laugh.

And that also has an impact.

They should constantly ask them, it is important that they take their portraits, because they have a lot of influence in society”.

A World Cup that promises to be zero emissions in an oil country

Can a soccer World Cup be considered neutral from the point of view of climate change in an oil country?

As many companies, institutions or cities already do, the organizers of Qatar 2022 have committed to making this competition net zero emissions, that is, to offset their emissions (with other projects that reduce them or by paying others for their reductions). ) in order to classify the event as climate neutral.

However, there are many doubts regarding this promise, especially in an oil country like Qatar.

In fact, at the climate summit being held in Egypt, UN experts presented some rules to avoid the so-called "greenwashing" with these climate neutrality commitments.

For example,

With regard to the specific calculation of the emissions generated by the World Cup, the report prepared by FIFA ensures that this football competition will generate 3.6 million tons of CO₂, most of it due to transport (51 7%), as well as infrastructure construction (24.2%) and accommodation (20.1%).

However, subsequent studies such as that of Carbon Market Watch also question this accounting, since they ensure that the impact of the new stadiums built is much greater than estimated.

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