British sport is unprepared for climate risks as costs rise

Climate change poses a major threat to British sport, damaging facilities, disrupting matches, raising costs and reducing sporting participation, according to a report that warns the sector is dangerously ill-prepared for extreme weather.

All organizations surveyed reported being affected by extreme weather in 2026, with 94 percent confirming that the sport is not prepared for climate change. However, a separate review of professional clubs' disclosures revealed that only nine clubs clearly identified climate change or extreme weather as a risk to their businesses.

The report issued by the British Society for Sustainable Sport paints a bleak picture of a sporting reality built for weather conditions that no longer exist, with repercussions affecting everyone from Premier League football stadiums to amateur stadiums and local communities.

“Sport is already paying the price of climate change through damaged stadiums, higher insurance costs, lost matchday earnings, and lost opportunities for individuals to engage in physical activity,” Russell Seymour, founder of the association, said in the report.

He added: “The scene has changed. Severe weather is no longer just a series of isolated disturbances, but has become a tangible, recurring and increasing commercial risk.”

Of the more than 200 clubs, facilities and agencies surveyed, 86 percent reported being affected by extreme heat, 78 percent by drought, 31 percent by storm damage, and 28 percent by flooding.

The financial risks are becoming increasingly apparent. Several clubs have already been affected by these repercussions, as Wimbledon recorded costs of approximately 900 thousand pounds ($1.2 million) due to stadium flooding in its financial statements for 2025.

Manchester United warned investors that severe weather could damage property, disrupt match-day operations, and cause losses that may not be fully covered by insurance.

The report stated: “If a club with the size and resources of Manchester United sees this risk as significant enough to require disclosure to investors, smaller and less financially capable institutions cannot treat it as a secondary matter.”

Worcestershire Cricket Club's New Road Ground, which is prone to flooding, has also faced repeated questions about its long-term viability, while Carlisle United have described flood insurance for Brunton Park as becoming too expensive to cover.

The report also highlighted the impact on competition schedules. Research cited by the Association indicated that at least 118 matches were postponed due to weather across the top six divisions of men’s football in England between the 2021-2022 and 2025-2026 seasons, with lower division and amateur clubs bearing the brunt.

Canceling matches or rearranging their dates leads to a decrease in crowd attendance and a decline in the profits of lower division clubs that operate with limited budgets.

The impact of Britain's exceptionally long, hot and dry summer has also been felt across sport in 2026. The Rugby Union has taken the unprecedented step of postponing the start of the community season in September due to the hardness of the pitches and concerns for player safety.

Beyond professional sports, the association warned that climate change threatens to undermine public health. Sports England found that nearly three-quarters of people affected by unprecedented heatwaves this year did less exercise and physical activity.

The report called for climate adaptation to be made a priority for boards across British sport, including developing tailored adaptation plans, improving reporting, and creating a £30 million annual fund to help protect community facilities from increasingly volatile weather.

All eyes are on five officials in the English Premier League, who are expected to play a pivotal role in determining the future of Manchester City, after the club was found guilty of financial violations by an independent committee, in one of the largest disciplinary cases in the history of the competition.

The League's Board of Directors bears the responsibility of recommending the appropriate punishment, while the three-member independent committee retains the final authority to make the decision, taking into account the position of Manchester City, which continues to assert its innocence and has filed an appeal against the ruling.

According to the British BBC network, the date of the session to consider the sanctions has not yet been set, nor is it known what type of penalty the association will demand, in a case that may result in a financial fine, deduction of points, or even the club’s exclusion from the competition, in addition to the possibility of stripping it of its previous titles.

The association’s board of directors consists of the CEO, the president, and three independent non-executive members, without club representatives, with the aim of ensuring the independence and impartiality of its decisions, especially since the board is responsible for prosecuting clubs accused of violating the competition’s regulations.

Alison Brittain, president of the association, is at the forefront of the five figures involved in the case, after she became the first woman to hold this position about four years ago. Brittain has previous experience in the hospitality and financial services sectors, and is also the Chairperson and Secretary of the Kings Trust Group.

Despite her distance from the spotlight, she has stressed on previous occasions that maintaining the competitive balance between clubs represents the core of the association’s work, stressing the need for competition to remain open, so that any team can win any match.

Brittain said that it is her responsibility to maintain this balance, adding that clubs may prefer to achieve victories constantly, but the success of the competition depends on the existence of real competition between them. She is also known for supporting Manchester United since childhood, before becoming a Brentford fan, and in 2025 she received unanimous support from the twenty clubs to continue in her position for a second three-year term.

The second person is Richard Masters, the association’s CEO since 2019, who was one of the most prominent figures who defended the competition’s position in the case. Following the issuance of the basic decision of the independent committee in September, he said that the ruling confirms the correctness of the association’s decision to proceed with the prosecution of Manchester City, stressing that implementing the regulations is necessary to protect the integrity of the competition.

Masters added that there are aspects that still need to be resolved, most notably the punishment that will result from violations, stressing the association’s commitment to accelerating the remaining procedures to provide clarity to the clubs and fans.

The Council is completed by three independent members, the first of whom is May Fifield, who previously worked for the Sky Group for more than 20 years, and during her career she led the company’s bids to win the rights to broadcast the English Premier League in three different sessions. She also currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Commercial Department of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

As for Dharmash Mistry, he is a technology investor and entrepreneur, and previously served as a non-executive member of the BBC’s board of directors. He chairs the League's Audit and Finance Committee, and represents it on the Board of Directors of the English Football Association.

The fifth member is Matthew Ryder, a prominent lawyer and part-time judge who previously served as Deputy Mayor of London. He also sits on the Board of Trustees of the Scott Trust, the foundation that owns the British newspaper The Guardian. Ryder chairs the association's legal advisory group, which gives him a legal background directly related to the nature of the issue at hand.

Although the Manchester City case is described as exceptional in terms of its size and complexity, disciplinary precedents in the English Premier League reveal that the recommendations of the Board of Directors are not necessarily identical to the penalties decided by the independent committees.

In 2023, the League demanded a deduction of 12 points from Everton due to financial violations, but the independent committee decided to deduct ten points, before reducing the penalty to six points after appeal. The following year, the League recommended deducting eight points from Nottingham Forest for violating profitability and sustainability rules, but the committee was content with deducting four points.

In the Leicester City case this year, the League considered that the appropriate penalty for the club exceeding the permissible financial limits in the 2023-2024 season was a deduction of 12 points from its score in the First Division, but the independent committee recommended instead a deduction of six points, to be applied by the English Football League.

On the other hand, the procedures are not limited to the disputed disciplinary path, as the League’s Board of Directors earlier this year reached an agreement regarding the penalty with Chelsea, which ended with the imposition of a fine of 10 million pounds, with the suspension of a possible ban on contracts, after the club admitted to making secret payments worth 47 million pounds to unregistered agents and third parties, linked to transfer deals between 2011 and 2018.

The association indicated that Chelsea's cooperation with the investigation, its voluntary reporting of the violations, and its admission of them were mitigating factors when determining the punishment.

The Manchester City case remains different from those precedents, given the size of the accusations and their potential repercussions, while the position of the League’s Board of Directors and its recommendation before the independent committee will be one of the main factors in the course of the case, before the final decision is issued, which may leave a major impact on the history of the club and the competition.

In an unexpected decision, Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo announced his retirement from international football, putting an end to a career that spanned 23 years in his country's national team shirt, a few days before the expected date of his return to the national team in preparation for facing Denmark and Wales in the European Nations League.

The 41-year-old Portuguese captain revealed his decision via a video message he posted on his Instagram account on Thursday, ending the speculation surrounding his international future during the recent period, especially after the crisis that the national team’s camp witnessed during the last international stop, after he left the gathering in Denmark without permission.

The announcement came as a surprise, given that Ronaldo had completed his 30-day suspension, paid the fine amounting to 255 euros, and was also included in the preliminary list for the national team in preparation for the matches between Denmark on November 14 and Wales on the 17th of the same month, which increased expectations of his return to the squad after his absence for the last period.

According to the Spanish newspaper AS, the return of the Portuguese star was not completely guaranteed, in light of the continuing tension in his relationship with coach Jorge Jesus, after Ronaldo felt that the latter had not adhered to previous understandings between them, which the player expressed in a letter in which he criticized the way of dealing with the crisis. The president of the Portuguese Football Federation, Pedro Proenca, tried to intervene to contain the dispute and return the player to the national team, but those efforts did not end with the return of the Portuguese captain, who chose to end his international career.

Ronaldo said in his message: “Portuguese, the day has come to return the number 7 shirt to all of our national teams. I never felt like it was mine alone, but for 23 years I had the honor and responsibility to wear it, defend it, and carry it with me in stadiums around the world. Today is the time to hand it over to the future.”

He added: “It was not an easy decision, as there are decisions that are not made with the mind alone, but also with the heart. Today ends a journey that began in August 2003, and it will remain a part of my life forever.

In his message, the Portuguese captain recalled the milestones of his international career, stressing that his memories are not limited to matches, goals, records and titles, but rather include the fans and people who were associated with the team in various parts of the world. He said: “Football is more than just a game, because it brings people together and creates common feelings among them.”

Ronaldo stressed that throughout his career he sought to transcend his limits, achieve victories and write history, noting that he lived through ideal moments and difficult moments, but he never gave up his feeling of pride in representing his country, even in periods during which he was unable to achieve the aspirations of the masses.

He sent a message to future generations, stressing that Portugal will always need young players who believe in their ability to achieve achievements and do not give up in the face of challenges. He also thanked his teammates in the national team for the years during which they shared victories and defeats, along with coaches, administrators, medical and technical staff, and workers behind the scenes.

He also expressed his gratitude to his family and the Portuguese fans, recalling the moment of playing the national anthem before the matches, which he said was bringing together Portuguese people of all affiliations and ideas behind one passion, which is the national team.

Ronaldo concluded his message by stressing that his retirement will not change his relationship with his country’s national team, saying: “Today my career on the field with the national team ends.” I leave with my head held high, proud of the way I've come, and knowing that I gave everything I had for Portugal. But I will never stop being one of you, and I will continue to suffer, rejoice and celebrate every victory of Portugal.”

He added: “I spent my life working to become the best player in the world, but today I realize that the greatest victory was to be worthy of representing the best country in the world.”

Ronaldo leaves the national team after an exceptional career during which he played 234 international matches, in which he scored 146 goals, becoming the all-time top scorer for national teams. He also led Portugal to winning the European Nations Championship in 2016 and the European Nations League in 2019, ending a journey that spanned more than two decades, during which he established his position as one of the most prominent players in the history of the Portuguese national team.