The Romanian Football Federation organised the first environmental audit meeting under the GOALS project on 23 August 2022. Participants in the meeting were Professor Tiberio Daddi from the Sant Anna School of Advanced Studies, Florin Șari and Romulus Moise from the Romanian Football Federation. The aim of the audit was to identify areas of interest and assess the FRF’s readiness in preparing for one of the project’s governance actions, obtaining the ISO 14001 environmental management certificate.

The visit focused on FRF’s head office and the activities of the organisation’s administration in particular. With about 150 employees, FRF manages a number of 52 leagues involving more than 300,000 registered players and more than 10,000 officials, referees and club employees. FRF also organises sporting events: football matches and football tournaments at all national and international league levels and maintains intensive contacts with numerous stakeholders: sponsors, commercial partners, clubs and leagues, international organisations, mass media and government.

In terms of environmental impact, the main areas are event management, mobility, procurement, facility management of the headquarters. During the assessment visit, elements of these activity domains were analysed and an initial set of findings and recommendations were subsequently shared by Prof Daddy, including fire prevention, water and climate management, waste management, mobility and procurement. The audit concluded that there are some recommendations for corrective action, but that achieving ISO 14001 environmental management certification is achievable for FRF’s head office.

As a next step after the assessment visit, FRF started preparations for implementing the environmental management standard, selected a consultant and started the certification process, aiming to complete all steps by 31. March 2023. March 2023.