Flights by squads taking part in the group stages of the UEFA’s EURO 2024 have been cut by 75% amid a campaign to encourage fans and teams to attend matches by bus and train.

The environmental, social and governance (ESG) figures from the European footballing body compare this year’s tournament in Germany, with 2016’s when it was staged in France.

“The primary goal of significantly reducing the air travel of the competing teams has so far been achieved thanks to close cooperation with the relevant national associations,” said UEFA.

Fans have also travelled sustainably around Germany, supported by a partnership with train firm Deutsche Bahn, which has sold over 200,000 EURO 2024 tickets at reduced prices.

In addition, “more than 500,000 Fan Pass Users have activated their public transport tickets to get around the host cities and their surroundings”, said UEFA.

Its ESG report on the tournament so far also details how its audio descriptive commentary (ADC) service has been accessed by more than 18,000 total unique visitors. This is the first EUROs event to feature ADC in the languages of the competing teams, as well as in German.

Social media crackdown

UEFA is also looking to crackdown on abusive posting on social media around the tournament.

It has monitored 622 social media accounts operated by all the parties involved in the tournament, including players, coaches and the participating sides.

“By the end of the group stage, 308 social media posts were found eligible to be reported to the social media platforms for removal,” said UEFA,

“As of today, 71% of these abusive posts have been actioned by the platforms, with reported posts removed after an average of just 75 minutes.”

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