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William Troost-Ekong: ‘All players and clubs should make transfers climate neutral’

T his month, on 14 June to be precise, the summer transfer window opens. It is not usually the prompt for a footballer to visit an orchard. But on Thursday William Troost-Ekong took a trip to see the olive trees planted in Salerno to compensate for the carbon dioxide emissions created by his January loan from Watford to the Serie A side Salernitana.

His move was, he believes, the first carbon-neutral international transfer. The defender says he wanted to switch club “without harming the planet – or at least as little as possible” and believes the wider game should follow suit. “There is always a lot of money involved in a transfer. It would be good if part of this, and it is actually a small amount, is used as standard to make the transfer climate neutral. This should be the goal for all players and clubs.”

In an ideal world he would have travelled by train from London to Salerno. Or, even better, by bike. “I had to play a day after the deal was done, so catching a plane was inevitable,” says Troost-Ekong, who was born in the Dutch city of Haarlem and plays for Nigeria. He took a scheduled flight with a family member from London to Naples (not a private jet as you see with many transfers) and his agent travelled from Milan by train. Troost-Ekong took a taxi to the airport because of all the suitcases. “It wasn’t perfect,” the 29-year-old says. “It can all be even more climate neutral if you have more time to make the trip. But I wanted to make a statement.”

In collaboration with Sokito, a company that produces eco-friendly football boots, a calculation was made of the CO2 emissions, which amounted to about a ton. To compensate, Troost-Ekong donated to Alberami, a project that helps olive farmers in southern Italy to

Read more on theguardian.com