International sporting events such as the Olympic Games or the European Championship inolve athletes traveling around the world to compete against the best. But all too often, the logistics of organizing such a mega event as well as the players and thousands of fans who attend end up leaving a gigantic “ecological footprint.” Even reporting locally on the games contributes to it. This week, we take a look at efforts to “greenify” sports. We visit Brazil as the country gears up for the World Cup in 2014. There, we take a look at football stadiums that operate on photovoltaic power, generating more energy than they consume. In our background text, Martin Reeh finds out that the biggest challenge in staging greener sporting events is to change mindsets.