EFDN is proud to announce Eredivisie as a new member

EFDN is proud to announce Eredivisie as a new member

The European Football for Development Network (EFDN) is proud to welcome the Dutch Eredivisie CV (ECV) to their network. Both parties will work together for at least two seasons starting this season and are looking forward to benefiting from each other’s experience and to a successful collaboration in many joint projects.

Millions of people in the Netherlands enjoy Eredivisie football and the eighteen professional football clubs competing in this competition play a very important role in society. Football connects and can make a difference for so many people, both on and off the pitch. Eredivisie CV is committed to making a positive impact on society every day together with all eighteen clubs. With a nationwide reach of over 8 million fans from all walks of life, role models and partnerships, the Eredivisie CV contributes to social issues such as a healthy and inclusive society. This is expressed in initiatives around the approach against racism and discrimination, smoke-free stadiums, and various projects to get people moving.

Since 1997, the eighteen Eredivisie clubs have united in an independent legal form. The Eredivisie CV is mainly engaged in the interests of the Eredivisie clubs at both the national and international levels. The main mission of the Eredivisie CV is to promote the quality of football in the Netherlands.  In the national field, the Eredivisie CV works closely with the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) and the First Division (Coöperatie Eerste Divisie). The KNVB has the role of organiser, regulator, and maintainer. The Eredivisie CV is the industry association that represents the rights, interests, and position of its members: all eighteen Eredivisie clubs.

Since 2004, when the More than Football Foundation was formed, the Eredivisie is using the power of football to engage and empower lots of people in the Netherlands. In the first ten years, the Eredivisie played a crucial role in setting up a lot of national CSR programs and partnerships. During this period, when the More Than Football foundation played a crucial role in the development of CSR in football, the professional football clubs in the Netherlands set up their own CSR department, employed a CSR manager, developed their own programs with regional partnerships. The CSR responsibilities shifted from national to regional, to the clubs, where the real power of football is located with professional football players as ambassadors, a stadium, and so on.

Nowadays, Eredivisie supports the 18 clubs to further professionalize and expand the regional power of football. The Eredivisie collaborates structurally with CSR partner De Vriendenloterij, broadcaster ESPN, the Dutch national government, and lots of other (inter) national, regional, and local organisations to strengthen the CSR policy of the clubs.

EFDN and Eredivisie CV agreed on close collaboration in the future. Together both organisations will promote diversity, sustainability, social inclusion, and fair competitions through existing programmes such as ‘Fair Sport 4 all’, and many more new football-based initiatives. This international cooperation offers opportunities to set up new projects and develop existing ones in the Netherlands. All clubs will benefit from this collaboration in the future.

Click here to see the Eredivisie member page