“UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 in Switzerland represents a landmark opportunity not only to elevate women’s football but also to demonstrate how major sporting events can be organised with social and environmental sustainability at their core.”
That was the message at the UEFA Respect Forum, where key figures involved in the tournament’s organisation presented a range of strategies and initiatives designed to make the event inclusive, engaging, and record-breaking.
Held at the Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich – one of the host venues – forum participants heard from tournament director Doris Keller about how UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 is already surpassing expectations.
More than 550,000 tickets have been sold to fans in over 100 countries, with a global TV audience projected to reach 500 million. Organisers also aim to surpass the average attendance of Women’s EURO 2022 in England, targeting 21,710 spectators per match.
Federal Office for Sport director in Switzerland Sandra Felix said: “Two years ago, this was just a dream. Now we’re just weeks away from kick-off. This tournament is a major opportunity to raise the profile of women’s football and women’s sport in general, in Switzerland.”
Women’s EURO 2025 ESG strategy
UEFA’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Strategy for the tournament, unveiled in October 2024, was a focal point. UEFA’s head of social and environmental sustainability, Filippo Veglio, emphasized that the strategy is built on “ambition, action and accountability”.
The ESG strategy is aimed at accelerating sustainability efforts, meeting growing societal expectations, and delivering long-term value. It outlines three main goals: reducing environmental impact, respecting and protecting rights, and ensuring transparency and accountability.
These cascade into 11 areas of action, 27 topics, 47 targets and 91 specific initiatives, covering issues such as smart mobility, accessibility, human rights and stakeholder engagement.
Strategy in action
From a partner perspective, this approach is already resonating. Dr Jennifer Cords, executive board member for corporate affairs at Lidl, acknowledged UEFA’s progress in making sustainability a strategic priority, aligning closely with the supermarket’s focus on resource efficiency and gender equality.
Lidl, a tournament sponsor, will deploy an Awareness Team at every match to help prevent microaggressions through expert-led dialogue and support UEFA’s commitment to creating safe, welcoming environments.
Former Chelsea and Celtic defender Paul Elliott, a member of the tournament’s Human Rights Advisory Board and an equality, diversity and inclusion advisor to the English Football Association, also highlighted the importance of such initiatives.
Drawing on UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany – where rapid response units were used to assist vulnerable fans and provide a mechanism for reporting abuse – he called for similar efforts across all sports to promote inclusion and tackle discrimination.
For host cities, UEFA’s ESG framework offers both structure and flexibility. Regula Schweizer, Project Lead for Host City Zurich, said the city had allocated an additional CHF 1.2 million (€1.3m) to support football access for girls through school-based programmes.
Schweizer noted that women’s football is Zurich’s largest team sport and has grown by 20% since Switzerland was announced as the tournament hosts, though she believes even more growth is possible.
Lara Dickenmann, tournament ambassador and former Swiss international said, “It has been a long journey. Growing up I had to play in the boys’ team because there were no girls’ teams. Accessibility is a huge word and access to the game has improved a lot in Switzerland. I used to look up to male players when I was young, but girls looking up to women is a different kind of representation – and it’s really important.”
