Sustainability in soccer with the FREE KICKS project: visit to Argentina by the Sport Sustainability group of the Institute of Management to meet with the Racing Team partner, which is committed to decreasing its impact on the environment

Destination Argentina for a delegation of the Sport Sustainability Group, within the SuM - Sustainability Management research area of the Institute of Management of the Sant'Anna School: Tiberio Daddi and Alessio Novi, respectively associate professor and post doc researcher in Economics and Business Management, visited in Buenos Aires the headquarters of Racing Club, one of the most important Argentine professional soccer clubs. Racing Club, based in Avellaneda, is already very committed to environmental issues through the Racing Sustentable group and since February 2023 has been a partner in the European Erasmus+ project FREE KICKS, coordinated by the Institute of Management of the Sant'Anna School. The Area of Sustainability, referring to the world of sports, also sees other projects coordinated by the Institute of Management of the Sant'Anna School, such as Erasmus+ GAMES and BENCHES.

In the context of the FREE KICKS project, Tiberio Daddi and Alessio Novi gave some lectures to train employees of the Argentine football club on sustainability issues. Also during the visit, the implementation of some of the "pilot" actions planned during the first phase of the project to increase sustainability in waste management (inclusion of recycling bins) and energy use (replacement of the entire lighting system with LED lamps) inside the "Juan Domingo Perón" stadium in Buenos Aires began. During the Racing - Argentinos juniors match last May 21, selected volunteers conducted environmental awareness actions, meeting with supporters, and an awareness video was also shown on the stadium screen. Also as part of the FREE KICKS project, the Racing Club also had the words "Racing Sustentable" printed in the T-shirts of some players. In this regard, Tiberio Daddi and Alessio Novi also visited a plastic recycling plant to establish possible partnerships with the club.

The visit to Argentina was also fruitful with a view to future collaborations on new projects dedicated to promoting sustainability practices on the issue of plastic in the world of soccer: Tiberio Daddi and Alessio Novi were hosted by Fundaciòn River Plate, another important Argentine national football club, and visited the Monumental stadium to discuss upcoming programs. The hope is that they can continue to work on improving the environmental management of sports organizations and sporting events with Racing and River Plate, as well as with other teams in Europe and South America.  

Cover photo: the "Juan Domingo Perón" stadium in Buenos Aires.