Uefa warns Kang and London City Lionesses over multi-club rules
Uefa has warned Michele Kang and other investors that women’s football will not be granted an exception to its rules on multi-club ownership.
It means US billionaire Kang may have to sell or place into a blind trust either French side OL Lyonnes or London City Lionesses if they both qualify for European competition in future years.
“There is an evolution of multi-club owners in women’s football and they invest a lot into the game, which is important,” said Uefa women’s football chief Nadine Kessler.
“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.
“Why would we want to preserve the sporting integrity of men’s football, but not of women’s football?”
In the men’s game, Crystal Palace were demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League this season because of multi-club ownership issues arising from former shareholder John Textor’s majority stake in Lyon.
Multi-club ownership in women’s football
Kessler was speaking ahead of Saturday’s Women’s Champions League final in Oslo, which will pit OL Lyonnes against Barcelona.
Lyonnes are eight-time winners and mainstays of the competition, while sister club London City Lionesses finished sixth on their Women’s Super League debut this year and have ambitions to qualify for Europe.
Other multi-club groups in women’s football include Mercury 13, which owns FC Como Women, Badalona and Bristol City Women, and Crux Sports, which owns Rosengard and Montpellier.
Valuations in women’s football make it easier to amass multi-club networks, which promise efficiencies in operating costs.
“We all think of smart ways of sharing resources and other things, and I’m sure these owners do a lot too,” said Kessler.
“But in the end, when it comes to what’s happening on the pitch, our job as the competition organisers, of course, is to make sure that everything is 100 per cent fair and that there is not even a perceived breach of integrity.”