Women’s Football Update: February 2026

New Competitions and Competition Law

A current trend across the sports industry is the launch of new leagues/competitions and whilst some are totally novel, others are based around an existing sport and even existing clubs. We are seeing this no more so than in women’s football which has seen the introduction of new FIFA competitions, the Champions Cup (which saw Arsenal Women lift the trophy and scoop ~£1.7million prize money earlier this month) and the Women’s Club World Cup (to be introduced in January 2028) as well as new formats like W7F (World Sevens Football, a new competition that launched in 2025) each featuring existing professional women’s football clubs from across the world.

This draws into focus the ability for existing clubs to participate in new competitions – an important question, not just for the operators of the new competitions, but also the operators of existing domestic competitions and the clubs that wish to participate in new competitions. The answer is not just a commercial one, as it also needs to comply with evolving law in this area.

Whilst clubs will need to consider the rules and regulations to which they are subject, including any applicable obligations of exclusivity and non-competes given in favour of the leagues in which they already participate, those leagues will equally need to consider the extent to which their own rules and regulations are enforceable and would stand up to scrutiny in the face of challenge, in particular on competition law grounds.

These sorts of challenges are becoming increasingly common following the seminal judgments in European Superleague Company (C‐333/21) and International Skating Union (C-124/21) in 2023, which made clear that rules relating to prior approval and participation by professional clubs and players in new competitions can be legitimate in certain circumstances, but those rules must be subject to a transparent, objective, precise and non-discriminatory framework that prevents arbitrary decision‐making and manages conflicts of interest.

Although these judgments involved international federations, their ambit has broader application meaning that, in practice, existing leagues should seriously consider having in place a clear framework to govern decision-making in this area. That framework should include substantive criteria against which a decision on sanctioning participation could be granted (e.g. existing calendar, player welfare) and the process that has to be undertaken in relation to that decision-making.

Where existing leagues do not have such a framework, and they subsequently seek to take steps to protect their position in the future (e.g. by blocking teams from participating in an alternative competition), the absence of that framework could leave them more susceptible to (potentially successful) claims of competition law infringements, which are both costly and damaging reputationally.

Academy Contracts

From the start of the 2026/27 season, WSL and WSL2 clubs will be permitted to offer academy contracts for the first time. This will include the ability to offer contracts of up to two years to 16 year-olds. For clubs, this is an additional method of contracting with young players, as they can also continue to offer scholarship contracts should they wish.
In legal and regulatory terms, the change shifts academy players from a more informal status to a clearer, and better protected, contractual framework. The intention is to improve academy player retention across clubs at all levels and give clubs a firmer basis to manage development, education and player movement. It is also intended to address the current imbalance created by ‘seven-day approaches’, a practice where clubs are effectively given seven days to convince an academy player to stay after they are notified that another club wants to sign them, or face losing that player for nothing. Pay is expected to be aligned with men’s Premier League academy benchmarks, subject to compliance with National Minimum Wage rates.

Female Talent logos/brand

The launch of Alexia Putellas’ new personal logo, intertwining her ‘A’ initial and her jersey number, unveiled recently in partnership with Nike, demonstrates the increasing brand power of female athletes. The logo features on her first-ever signature boots and apparel collection for Nike, released earlier this month. Female talent considering leveraging their brand power in this way should consider legal issues such as:

• Intellectual Property Ownership and Enforcement:

  o  Clarity on who owns the logo (and the associated marketing materials that incorporate the logo) as between the talent and the brand. If the brand owns the logo, talent will need to consider what happens when their endorsement arrangements end and how they can use the logo going forward.

  o  Ensure the logo is registered in the relevant classes and jurisdictions to prevent infringement and unauthorised use by third parties is also essential.

• “Image Rights” Management: establish their own legal structures (such as companies) to manage their image rights and appearances, which can offer both branding control and tax advantages.
• Sponsorship Exclusivity: Issues may arise when creating personal logos and endorsing brands outside of their team/leagues/event sponsors as it may violate existing sponsorship restrictions, which often govern how personal brands are displayed during official club/team activities.

If you require further information and/or would like to discuss in more detail, please contact our Head of Women’s Football, Harriet Leach (harriet.leach@onsidelaw.co.uk) and Senior Associate, Lily Elliott (lily.elliott@onsidelaw.co.uk).
With thanks to Jon Morgan (Partner), Alex Clarke (Legal Director) and Alex Bromley-Martin (Associate).