
Six clubs from the Bundesliga and the second division (VfL Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen, VfB Stuttgart, FC St. Pauli, SC Paderborn 07 and Bayer 04 Leverkusen) took part in the 'sustain Club' sustainability certification and as part of that process Bayer 04 were awarded the 'sustain Club silver’ certification.
With the achievement of this certification, the sextet of clubs assumed a pioneering role in professional sport. In cooperation with the Swiss organisation 'sustainable///sports', a pilot phase was held to develop the 'sustainedClub' standard, which was certified by the independent expert organisation DEKRA. It was the first recognised sustainability standard and orientation point in professional football.
"As a club, we are very happy about achieving silver status. I'd like to thank everybody who made a contribution to that," said Fernando Carro, chairman of the board at Bayer 04. "In this assessment by the experts, we not only recognise an award but we also value it as an additional incentive to continue to develop in the area of sustainability."
The six participating clubs have accepted the challenges relating to sustainability in professional football and are committed to a better future in the three areas of sustainability (economy, ecology and community). The standard involves the establishment of a CSR and sustainability management system, sustainability analysis and the identification of concrete improvement opportunities.

Whenever the leading figures in European club football come together, Bayer 04 are right in the thick of it: At the 33rd General Assembly of the European Football Clubs (EFC) in Copenhagen, Fernando Carro, CEO, and Simon Rolfes, Managing Director Sport, discussed key sporting and economic issues for the future.
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Having progressed to the DFB Pokal Round of 16, the Bayer 04 Women do not have much time before their next Bundesliga fixture. On Friday night (18:30 CEST), coach Roberto Pätzold’s side kick off matchday six at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against Werder Bremen – and they have a clear mission.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career working as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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Bayer 04 host top French club Marseille at the BayArena on matchday four in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League group stage. The match kicks off on Thursday 5 November at 21:00 CET. The latest information on ticket sales.
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