Manchester United and Real Betis have teamed up with four local organisations to announce “The Greenest Game”
, promoting sustainability in football ahead of the friendly match at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California.
The organisations, which include San Diego River Park Foundation, Sports San Diego, San Diego FC, and San Diego Wave FC, will partner on a joint clean-up at the Mission Valley preserve, an ecological preserve located along the San Diego River on Tuesday 30 July from 10:30 to 12:30 local time.
Notable attendees include Real Betis CEO, Ramon Alcaron, Manchester United legend, Andrew Cole, San Diego River Park Foundation CEO, Rob Hutsel, and Sports San Diego CEO, Mark Neville.
In an effort to promote sustainability, Real Betis will be distributing biodegradable bags in the fan zone on match day - Wednesday 31 July.
Fans who return litter to the activation in the fan zone will be entered to win prizes including autographed merchandise. In addition to the litter pick, each team will be drinking from signature green reusable water bottles during the match to raise awareness for the environment.
Earlier this year, Real Betis and Manchester United met in the “City of Trees”
at Old Trafford, and
legends Wes Brown from United, and Rafael Gordillo from Betis, joined to plant trees in the surrounding
area.
Ramon Alarcon, Real Betis CEO, emphasised that “Real Betis's commitment to sustainability is steadfast
through our Forever Green project, and any initiative that helps raise awareness about the need to care
for our planet is welcome. We are delighted to leverage the platform that football offers us for these
kinds of actions. We are thrilled to collaborate with Manchester United, San Diego Wave, San Diego
River Park Foundation, Sports San Diego, and San Diego FC on this initiative, which we hope will have a
significant impact on the city and be the first of many future collaborations.”
Christoffer Komen, Director of Tour and Friendlies at Manchester United, said: “We are delighted to
collaborate with San Diego Wave, San Diego River Park Foundation, Sports San Diego, San Diego FC, and
our opponents Real Betis to promote sustainable initiatives during our visit to the city.
“We recognise the responsibility we have in mitigating the environmental impact of our tours. A big part of that is the travel and that is why we have invested in renewable energy to compensate for the carbon emissions generated across our travel to and within the US.
“We thank all our fans and partners for supporting the 'Greenest Game' initiative as we continue to
capitalise on opportunities to minimise our environmental impact during pre-season tour.“
Manchester United has achieved 16 consecutive years of carbon emissions reductions and was also the first UK sports organisation to achieve the Carbon Trust Standard certification for commitment to carbon reduction.
Rob Hutsel, San Diego River Park Foundation CEO and co-founder, shared: “It is so exciting to see Manchester United, Real Betis and others coming together as a team to clean up
one of San Diego's most important natural resources, the San Diego River. Our need to engage people in
creating a clean, healthy future for our namesake waterway and its globally significant ecosystem is
more important now than ever before.”
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