Organic sausages, inclusive stadium, no to betting sponsors. The St Pauli model, club champion of sustainability: “Another football is possible”

They are sold in the stands bratwurst organic, also in a vegan version. Accompanied by a beautiful beer, Obviously. But without exaggerating: indeed, awareness initiatives against it are planned dependence and alcohol. And give them too betting. In fact, the club rejected a large offer of sponsorship of a sports betting brand. She also refused to speak to i prosecutors of any one player underage: decisions are made by talking to the familyotherwise thanks e Goodbye. There are several projects that concern it stadiowith the ultimate goal of having an environment more inclusive and with reduced emissions. Welcome to the world ofFC St. Paulithe German club founded on the values ​​of anti-racism,anti-discrimination and anti-fascism, which it has now made of sustainability another of his flags. Enough to become the first team Of soccer professional in the world to complete a balance sheet in line with the values ​​ofEconomy for the common good (ECG): subjected to ECG’s external audit, the company immediately placed itself at the top of the classification from the sustainability together with pioneers like Greenpeacethe producer of organic juices Voelkel or the textile company Vaude. “We want to demonstrate that another kick is possible“, he tells ilfattoquotidiano.it the club spokesperson, Patrick Gensing. “But also that this model can lead to a successful football“: the team is currently second in the German Serie B and aims to return to the championship soon Bundesliga.

The history of the club – Il St Pauli bears the name of a neighborhood of Hamburg and is inextricably linked to his peopleto his fans. The club was born in 1910, but is in the 70’s which becomes the symbol of punk movement e autonomous of the port city in northern Germany. These are the years of occupations, from the tensions socialof student and proletarian battles: i seats of the MillerntorStadium they transform into the favorite meeting place of that neighborhood in turmoil. The fans unite around issues such as anti-fascism, anti-homophobia and anti-racism. And he chooses as his symbol the Jolly Rogerthe ships’ coat of arms pirate. The Buccaneers of German football become a landmarkan emblem of resistence to the arrival of capital and the marketing of the ball, despite St Pauli not achieving success on the pitch never brilliant results and often have i accounts in the red. But this is the past. Today the “pirate” society has become a model of management, without denying but on the contrary by leveraging on their own values foundations. As you summed it up Jutta Hieronymusmember of the board of directors of ECG Germany, FC St Pauli “demonstrates that the success long-term in professional sport is also possible when the goals ethical, social ed ecological are reconciled with economic needs”.

From donations to the homeless to the fight against discrimination – “Less chatter, more actions” is the motto of Franziska Altenrath, the club’s head of strategy, change and sustainability. Among the worthy initiatives cited by ECG, there are the no to unethical sponsors (such as those on gambling), the creation of guidelines on diversitythe equality of gender of the supervisory board, products ecologically sustainable and the transition to organic catering e vegan. Altenrath a ilfattoquotidiano.it explains precisely how these projects translate into practice: “At a local level, we are committed to helping homeless and those affected by poverty. We finance legal advice for refugees and we are part of a program of rehabilitation for the young people who committed crimes“. To decide how to distribute the donations of the club is a committee composed of fans, soci e employees. Then there are the initiatives at national level: “We use our visibility to send messages clear on anti-racism, theantisexismo and the fight against all forms of discrimination. We ourselves are always working to become more inclusive“. Come? I prices of the tickets at the stadium they must be “the most”. socially acceptable possible”. Furthermore, among other things, the club is committed to communicating “in simple language” and also includes communication via the sign language: “We broadcast our translation live on match day,” Altenrath always explains.

The role of fans – St Pauli’s initiatives are on constant evolution: Altenrath reveals that from March 2024 the work of a “team of awareness” who will take care of the people who have suffered inappropriate behaviors (e.g. sexist insults) inside the stadium. The club’s home must philosophically be an inclusive environment and it is the fans themselves who demand this: “The contribution of the fans is a element essential. Many of the initiativesof the ideals and gods values that the club represents today have emerged from the fans. Our fans start and cultivate the change. They support initiatives and speak up when I do not agree“. Another project started right from the fans, the one on combating drug addiction alcohol or to the improper use of betting. Also from the fans was the request to have “our own range of sustainable productsin which we pay great attention to social production and ecological materials”. This is how the idea of ​​vegan and organic frankfurters came about, as explained by the vice president Religion Rager: “An organic bratwurst currently costs approx 90 cents more compared to a conventional product, which evidently causes more suffering to animalsfarms more harmful to the environment and working conditions usually worse for those who participate in the production process.”

The flag of climate justice – Within the broader concept of sustainabilitythe fight against climate change has also become one of the flags of St Paulione of the messages that clubs and fans want to send by exploiting the visibility of football: “We consider climate change mainly as a political and social risk, we are therefore committed to justice climate. The poor are becoming increasingly poor while the rich are not affected, or are only minimally affected, by climate change”, states Altenrath. “We use our popularity to draw more and more attention to social issues related to climate and to present solutions for social transformation”. At the same time, the club is continuing its decarbonisation: “We have some projects planned that will reduce ours emissions of CO2. This includes the transition to lighting a Ledthe creation of a plant photovoltaicthe use of a network of local heating and attention to emissions in new buildings,” highlights Altenrath.

Social and field commitment – Told like this, FC St Pauli seems anything but a club committed to success on the pitch. In part, however, this attention to the power that football can have as social aggregator and how promoter of change is a founding value of the club: “For decades, FC St Pauli has been strongly committed to level social. The commitment to diversity and to one open society e democratic it is part of the club’s DNA. We do justice to this in local projects and in our campaigns”, explains the sustainability manager. St Pauli also has no external investors, the company is managed by what in Italy we would call “popular shareholding“. And Altenrath also underlines this aspect: “The club’s great openness to the fans’ ideas also leads to one grande credibility. This credibility is a precious asset for the dissemination and communication of the values ​​and themes of sustainability“. But also to make strong decisions, such as the one linked to the minors’ agents: “Our Vision is ‘A different football is possible’ – says Gensing, club spokesperson – This pushes us to always take a new look at our core business. We decided to speak directly only with underage players or with theirs family members and not through agents. This practice – which began this season – has caused quite a stir, but so far it absolutely has proven valid“.

2024-01-20 08:13:46
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