
To round off this year's #Morethanfootball Action Weeks a large number of the active clubs and associations are coming together for the 15th EFDN Conference, held virtually from 12 to 14 April, to exchange information and ideas on joint action and commitment.
With Meinolf Sprink (Director of Fans/Community), who is also on the EFDN management board, plus Jörg Kappenhagen (Head of Community Affairs), Matthias Adler (Organisational development/Community) and Florian Wolfrum (Memberships), Bayer 04 have four representatives at this years EFDN Conference. The diverse programme offers participants an insight into the way Europe's leading football clubs and organisations currently, and in the future, can develop and implement initiatives for community and social responsibility.
This year's conference is taking place virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. A varied programme with breakout meetings, open forums, practical workshops, monitoring and evaluation initiatives and round-table discussions offer optimum conditions for the exchange of information. The EFDN Conference is the biggest get-together of experts for community and social responsibility (CSR) in European professional football.
Bayer 04 have been an active member of the European Football for Development Network (EFDN) since 2015 and the network now has over 100 members across Europe pursuing the targets of promoting the power football as a tool for social development. To this end, the EFDN supports and advises its members and offers the exchange of opportunities, knowledge and experience at a European level to improve the quality and efficiency of national and local initiatives in the area of football for sustainable development. The #Morethanfootball Action Weeks are organised under the aegis of the EFDN.

Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Sustainability once again had many faces at Bayer 04 in 2025: In community activity, the club supported countless regional campaigns, including the Leverkusener Tafel, the Frauenennotruf Leverkusen e.V. and the homeless aid organisation "Kältegang". But the Black and Reds have also been involved in good causes around the world - including the Young Coaches training programmes in Uganda and Ecuador plus the Genuine World Cup in the USA, where the Inclusion Werkself competed. Bayer 04 was also fully committed to the environment and underwent external and independently certification in accordance with the European environmental management standard EMAS, for example, to analyse and optimise the club’s environmental efforts. Looking back at sustainability in 2025.
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Two Saturdays, one Friday and one Sunday: The dates for the Bayer 04 Women's team games on matchdays 16 to 19 have been finalised. Three of the four matches scheduled by the German Football Association (DFB) on Tuesday will be played at home at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
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Bayer 04 currently have a number of promising young talents on loan to various clubs in Europe with the aim of gaining match practice and furthering their individual development. Francis Onyeka and Farid Alfa-Ruprecht, for example, play for VfL Bochum 1848, while Artem Stepanov is a striker with 1. FC Nürnberg, coached by World Cup winner Miroslav Klose. Tim Oermann is a defender in the Austrian Bundesliga at top club SK Sturm Graz and Abdoulaye Faye is playing in France for FC Lorient, promoted to Ligue 1 this season. Bayer04.de reviews the first six months for the Leverkusen players out on loan.
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