Law In Sport Football law conference: day one key takeaways

Some of our sports team attended Law In Sport's football law conference (May 2024), below are some key takeaways from day one. 

We are currently in the midst of a very interesting time for football which will go down in history, it could potentially set the bar very high for other sports and how they are regulated too. 

Football Governance Bill

When the independent regulator is appointed and the bill comes into force, football clubs (and the owners and directors) will need to be very well prepared and ready for compliance. It’s unclear whether the ‘nuclear weapon’ (licence withdrawal) will be used, but the threat is real!

Support for football coaches

The recent work the League Coaches Association (LCA) is doing to increase the support given to professional coaches in relation to their contracts (and therefore, the game) is incredible, the LCA is really making a difference.

ESG and sponsorship 

Sponsors are actively auditing clubs to get a good understanding of their ESG policies and compliance with those, ESG is increasingly on the minds of business leaders in football, other sports and brands too. 

Smart leadership

There are clearly so many benefits to running a football club like a business with non-executive directors etc, the results on the pitch reflect the efforts off the pitch. This sounds simple and obvious, but it is not always applied. 

Multi-club ownership

European football is a hotbed for US investment, another reason for increased regulatory scrutiny in this space. Speaking of which, here are some questions to think about in relation to multi-club ownership: 

• Will the rest of the world take learnings from Germany? 
• Will we rely on local associations to set their own rules in each jurisdiction? 
• Will FIFA/UEFA step in or do they not see it as their domain? 
• When will regulation be put in place to make football a fair playing field for all involved to promote fair competition? 

Time will certainly tell. Either way, whoever does start to figure this out will need do it in a sustainable way and strike a careful balance to avoid stifling investment appetite and killing enthusiasm for the game.

A fascinating start to the conference.