Women’s Football Update – April 2026

New Landmark FIFA Regulations

Last month, the FIFA Council approved new regulations, aimed at strengthening the women’s game by improving female representation across the football landscape.

Going forward, every team in a FIFA women’s football tournament must include at least two female staff members on the bench at matches, with one in an assistant coach or head coach role and the other in the medical team. These requirements will debut at the U20 Women’s World Cup and will apply to all FIFA competitions thereafter, including the Women’s Champions Cup and the Women’s World Cup. The requirements have been implemented following discussions around the long-term strategy of female representation in coaching, with the aim of swiftly increasing female presence on the touchlines (noting at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, only twelve of the thirty-two head coaches were female, including England manager Sarina Wiegman).

Paired with existing FIFA initiatives such as its coach education scholarships (an initiative which provides financial support for higher-level coaching qualifications), it is hoped that the new rules will create clearer pathways to coaching roles within women’s football.

From a legal perspective, clubs and national teams taking part in FIFA women’s football tournaments will need to make the necessary changes to comply with the new rules (to the extent not already) and will need to carefully consider any reorganisation plans and/or recruitment strategies from an employment law perspective to accommodate these regulatory changes.

The end of the 3pm Blackout?

Article 48 of the UEFA Statutes allows national associations to opt in to have the right to prevent live domestic football from being shown in the UK between 2:45pm and 5:15pm on Saturdays. The FA and Scottish FA have opted in and whilst the 3:00pm blackout was originally designed around the men’s game, it also currently applies to women’s competitions, including the WSL.

This month, the UK Parliament Culture, Media and Sport Committee published a report (available here) into women’s sport which addressed the issue directly. The Committee recommended that women’s football should be exempt from the 3:00pm blackout (see paragraphs 118 to 122, pages 40-41), stating that the restriction limits the sport’s visibility and audience reach.

The proposal relating specifically to the women’s game includes:

• allowing women’s matches to be broadcast during the 3:00pm Saturday window;
• establishing that slot as a regular broadcast window for women’s football; and
• retaining the blackout in its current form for other parts of the game.

This approach reflects earlier recommendations from the Karen Carney Review (see recommendation 5, available here) which also identified the lack of a consistent and dedicated broadcast slot as a constraint on the sport’s growth.

However, no formal change has been agreed. The FA has indicated support for an exemption covering women’s competitions, but implementation would require agreement across football authorities and compliance with the UEFA regulations.

There is no confirmed timeline for when an exemption might be introduced. The Committee’s recommendation now requires a response from the UK government, and any regulatory or commercial changes would need to be negotiated with all relevant football stakeholders.

Female Athlete Health – Football Insurance Update 

The Women’s Football Taskforce is working with Loughborough University, leading insurers and the sports industry to offer more appropriate support for female athletes.

The group are developing enhanced insurance frameworks that have historically failed to account for the specific risks faced by female athletes. Proposals include extending cover to circumstances such as miscarriage resulting from a sporting incident, alongside a broader review of how policies respond to female-athlete health considerations (including pregnancy, contraception and conditions such as Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport).

As insurance provisions evolve, we expect that there will be additional legal connotations to be aware of, including:

• Employment Contracts: Leagues, clubs and national teams may need to update their employment contracts to incorporate these protections as standard terms, rather than an “add-on” discretionary benefit.
• Regulatory and Governance Frameworks: Football authorities may move to formalise these protections through regulations, licensing requirements, or minimum standards. This would shift welfare provisions from discretionary policies into enforceable rules, increasing compliance burdens on clubs and leagues.
• Data Protection and Medical Confidentiality: As clubs collect more detailed health data to support these policies, they must navigate strict data protection laws (i.e. GDPR). Handling sensitive medical information, particularly around reproductive health, raises compliance and confidentiality risks.
• Policy Interpretation: Updating policy wordings to include female-specific risks introduces potential ambiguity and dispute. Insurers and clubs will need clarity around definitions, causation (i.e. “sporting incident” links to miscarriage), and evidentiary thresholds to avoid any disputes.

The developments represent a promising and necessary evolution in the protection of female athletes. The move toward more tailored insurance coverage and enhanced welfare standards signals a positive shift in how risk, responsibility, and player wellbeing are understood within the game.

From a legal perspective, as these protections become more formalised, stakeholders will need to ensure that insurance policies, contractual terms, and regulatory obligations are aligned.

Expansion of NWSL

In the US, investor confidence in women’s sport remains high and leagues are expanding to accommodate this interest at club level. The NWSL announced last week that the league is set to expand even further to 18 teams with the addition of Columbus, with a record-breaking $205m expansion fee. New franchises are commanding record entry prices and attracting high-profile ownership groups.

As women’s leagues evolve, expand and secure investment at club level, legal considerations include:

• League approval over owners: Leagues should consider whether its regulations around change of ownership and accommodating private equity investment are appropriate for their competition. In the US at least, many leagues have restrictions on the % ownership permitted by (i) a single investor and (ii) multiple investors, with a trend over recent years for a relaxation of rules to accommodate more private equity investment. Each sport will need to weigh up what is right for their particular competition and if changes are made obtain the consent of the relevant stakeholders to update their regulations.
• Closed leagues: Query whether the notable franchise fees in the US are a product of the league being “closed”. Closed leagues are often more attractive to investors because they offer greater financial certainty as there is no threat of relegation. Limited membership also increases the scarcity and long-term value of each team. In addition, centrally negotiated media and sponsorship agreements provide stable income streams. Together, these factors reduce financial risk and support more consistent long-term returns on investment. However, in Europe, these models are not the norm but are beginning to enter more league conversations across sport. This was thought about in the Karen Carney Review, although it explicitly stated that this was not preferable (see recommendation 1, principle 33) but WSL and WSL2 has been publicly reported as keeping structural options on the table.
• Minority v Majority stake investment: We have seen a number of recent investments into women’s clubs. Some examples include – Chelsea FC Women with an investment of $25m by Seven Seven Six founder Alexis Ohanian; Crux Football took a 100% stake in Montpellier HSC Feminines; Mercury 13 acquired a majority stake in Bristol; and of course the recent Bay Collective backed by Sixth Street acquiring 80% in Sunderland Women (more on that soon!). The size of equity stake may dictate the level of investor control over the club but this is not conclusive as contractual protections (such as pre-emption rights, reserved matters and drag/tag) can be baked into the legal documentation.