Corporate digital responsibility in sports - sustainability, human rights & data protection

The topic of sustainability is more present than ever in professional sports. In May 2022, the German Football League (DFL) passed a member resolution[1] according to which compliance with sustainability criteria will even become part of the licensing process in professional football in Germany (for more information on which, please see this article[2])

In sports, the focus of sustainability measures has so far been predominantly on the environment and social issues in the “real” world (see this article[3]). In contrast, little attention has been paid to sustainability and human rights in the digital sphere. In sports, these are fundamental issues not only for sponsors, but also for fans and players - especially the younger generation. This generation is being raised to have an awareness of data-protection and the human rights linked to a secure data processing. This generation will also make their decisions based on the extent to which the process of digitization is designed to be sustainable and human rights compliant.

This article explains what overlaps exist between the areas of sustainability, human rights and data protection, how these areas can go hand in hand (and that they should), and what this means for sports organisations (with a focus on the author’s home jurisdiction, Germany):

• Corporate digital responsibility
• Data privacy law, human rights law and sustainability in sports
• Recommendations for action

In due course, Part 2 will look at FIFPRO’s “Charter of Player Data Rights”.