Uefa vows to take hard line on multi-club ownership in Women's Champions League

UEFA’s women’s football leadership will strictly apply regulations that bar clubs sharing the same owner from competing together in the Women’s Champions League. The enforcement is aimed at protecting sporting integrity, with no different approach or exceptions for women’s football. This stance affects investors and multi-club ownership groups, including Michele Kang, who owns OL Lyonnes and London City Lionesses. Kang also owns Washington Spirit. Other multi-club groups include Crux Sports, which controls Rosengard and Montpellier, and Mercury13, which owns FC Como Women, FC Badalona Women, and Bristol City. UEFA will closely monitor compliance as multi-club ownership expands in women’s football.

"Uefa's head of women's football has said rules prohibiting clubs with the same owner from playing together in the Women's Champions League will be strictly enforced, dealing a blow to investors such as Michele Kang. Kang owns one of Saturday's Women's Champions League finalists, OL Lyonnes, and London City Lionesses, who have big ambitions and whose head coach, Eder Maestre, last week stated their desire to compete for the Women's Super League title next season."

"Nadine Kessler said no exceptions would be made in the women's game, despite the growing number of multi-club ownership groups. There is an evolution of multi-club owners in women's football and they invest a lot into the game, which is important, Kessler, Uefa's women's football director, said. But at the same time, when it comes to playing in one football competition, there will be no different approach and no exceptions when it comes to the women's game, and this is being closely monitored."

"Kang, who also owns the US side Washington Spirit, is not alone in operating multiple strong clubs in Europe. Crux Sports, founded by the former New Zealand captain Bex Smith, owns the record 14-time Swedish champions Rosengard, who have been Champions League quarter-finalists six times since 2012, and Montpellier, who were Champions League quarter-finalists in 2018 and European semi-finalists in 2006. Another multi-club group with more than one top-flight European team is Mercury13, which owns the Serie A club FC Como Women, the Spanish top-flight side FC Badalona Women and the WSL2 club Bristol City."

"Kessler said: Why would we want to preserve the sporting integrity of men's football, but not of women's football? It's out of [the] question. I think in any sport, you want to preserve sporting integrity. That's the most important thing. We all [try to] think of smart ways of doing this, we all think of"

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