A collaboration between the Turkish Basketball Federation and United Nations is an important step to leave a good future to children, the head of the federation said Monday.
Hidayet Turkoglu said the sports body is sensitive to the environment and society.
"We will get the first fruits of this cooperation in Turkey -- the Netherlands game on Feb. 21. Our teams’ players will be using organic towels on the pitch, in training and changing rooms. The fans will drink their water from paper cups. There will be recycling bins for papers, plastics, metals and glasses in the dome."
Turkoglu also said he wished this project to be an example to other sport branches.
The United Nations Development Program’s Turkey Director, Claudio Tomasi, shared in his speech that basketball increases team spirit and requires cooperation.
"We decided to partner to leverage these messages to create what we call awareness, to create behavioral changes in people. We together decided to focus especially on the climate, that there is one reason for this among the ‘Sustainable Development Goals,’ which are all very important for climate crisis enterprises. The requirement for climate action is the most pressing, the most important one because it involves each one of us. Each one of our daughters and sons basically belongs to us as human beings," Tomasi said.
He added that they aim to reach more people, including in Turkey.
The Netherlands game will be a symbolic event to raise awareness on recycling.
