FC Lugano has won the Best Environmental Impact award at the 2025/26 SFL Sustainability Awards, the Swiss Football League’s recognition of the best sustainability projects by clubs in the Brack Super League and the ten Challenge League clubs. The award was won by the project centred on the AIL Arena, recognised for its ability to combine energy efficiency, responsible resource management and sustainable mobility.
The official award ceremony took place on Wednesday 21 October in Bern, during the SFL’s Sustainability Forum. The award was accepted by Vanessa Berti, FC Lugano’s Corporate Sustainability Manager, who outlined the AIL Arena project during the ceremony, covering everything from infrastructure solutions to operational aspects relating to waste management and inclusion.
AN AWARD FOR ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENT
From the 26 projects submitted, the SFL selected ten finalists, who were assessed by fans, sports experts and representatives from partner organisations, including UBS and Toyota. The public were also able to take part via an online vote, assessing the projects based on three criteria: impact, long-term potential, creativity and innovation.
The aim of the award is to recognise initiatives that reduce the environmental and social impact of Swiss professional football and to promote best practice amongst clubs.
AIL ARENA, AN INTEGRATED SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT
Built as part of the City of Lugano’s Sports and Events Centre (PSE), the AIL Arena incorporates a range of environmentally friendly solutions.
The facility, certified to the Minergie standard, features over 4,000 m² of photovoltaic panels, comprising 2,024 modules on the roof, with an estimated annual output of over 1 million kWh. In addition, there is a 65,000-litre rainwater harvesting system, a green roof and an energy system designed to recover heat generated by the Swiss Centre for Scientific Computing (CSCS).
Sustainability also extends to match days: public transport included in the admission ticket, improved transport links, a reduction of around 58 per cent in the number of parking spaces compared with the previous Cornaredo stadium, and initiatives for recycling and waste reduction.
This set of measures demonstrates the commitment to making sustainability an integral part of the day-to-day management of the AIL Arena.
OTHER AWARD-WINNING CLUBS
Two further awards were presented during the ceremony. Grasshopper Club Zürich won the Best Social Impact award for ‘Unified Halftime Matches’, a project that enables footballers with disabilities to play matches during the half-time break of official fixtures, in front of the crowd.
FC Aarau, meanwhile, received the Special Challenge League Award for ‘Recycling Meets Inclusion’, an initiative that combines waste sorting with the inclusion of people with disabilities, in collaboration with the azb foundation.
RECOGNITION FOR THE FUTURE
FC Lugano also took part in the selection process with ‘Nome-Segno’, the social project developed in collaboration with frequenzeLIS to bring football closer to the deaf community through Italian Sign Language (LIS).
The Club is immensely proud to receive this recognition, which rewards the work carried out and confirms the importance of the path it has taken. This achievement also serves as an incentive to carry on: FC Lugano will continue to develop environmental and social initiatives, with the aim of making sustainability an increasingly integral part of its activities.