You can imagine the meltdown across social media, if Stan Kroenke, Todd Boehly or the Glazer family were to enter into a partnership with the Football Association. Well, women’s football in the United States already took a similar unusual step in November 2024 when US Soccer announced “a historic gift” of $30m (£22m) from Michele Kang, the owner of one of the country’s biggest women’s clubs, Washington Spirit, over a five-year period.
US Soccer labelled the donation as philanthropic – the largest women’s football in the country had ever had – and “non-profit”. Then, in December 2025, US Soccer unveiled the Kang Women’s Institute, a platform “designed to accelerate advancements in the women’s game through science, innovation, and elevated best practices”, and there was surprisingly little public condemnation. Overwhelmingly, the women’s game around the world appeared to celebrate the businesswoman’s generosity rather than questioning this arrangement, because of Kang’s repeatedly stated aim of trying to grow women’s football.
On Thursday last week, however, the game’s global governing body, Fifa, announced Kynisca – Kang’s multi-club ownership organisation – as the presenting partner of the inaugural Fifa Women’s Champions Cup. However well intentioned this particular sponsorship may be, the women’s game now has a conflict-of-interest issue it cannot ignore.
Kang has said she is passionate about creating opportunities for women and that is admirable, but Fifa should see her through one specific lens: she is the owner of three women’s clubs, including London City Lionesses, that have aspirations to win silverware. There is something uncomfortable about the person in charge of the eight-time European champions, OL Lyonnes, being a partner for a tournament that four other of the world’s top teams will contest in London this week.
Fifa is justifying the partnership on the grounds that none of Kang’s teams has qualified for this edition of the Champions Cup and the partnership is understood to be for this year’s competition only. However, that is like saying it would be suitable for Ryan Reynolds’ production company to become a sponsor of the Premier League this season because Wrexham have not won promotion to the men’s top tier – yet.
“Fifa is delighted to welcome Kynisca as Presenting Partner of the inaugural Fifa Women’s Champions Cup 2026, a tournament that signals a new era for women’s club football worldwide,” the governing body said in a statement.
“This partnership is for the 2026 edition only. Fifa is always mindful of possible competitive conflicts and is comfortable in this case, as no Kynisca associated clubs are involved in the tournament. Kynisca’s support of this tournament reflects their wider commitment to transforming women’s football through unprecedented investment, while also advancing elite women’s club football, through different initiatives and collaborations.
“As such, Kynisca will work with Fifa on a dedicated women’s elite club football impact initiative to be deployed in 2026 following the conclusion of the Fifa Women’s Champions Cup 2026. The initiative will contribute to the broader legacy of the competition and reflects Fifa’s ongoing commitment to strengthening the women’s club football ecosystem globally by advancing best practices in women’s elite club football, including innovation in training methodologies, knowledge sharing with female coaches and technical staff, and support for elite female coach development.”
However well intentioned Fifa and Kang’s arrangement may be, perceptions matter, particularly for partisan football supporters, and, even though this is only a one-tournament-long deal, the risk of rival clubs accusing Fifa of bias in future is probably now irreparable.
If Washington Spirit are in the new Women’s Club World Cup and receive a promising-looking draw, fans will again be suspicious, because of this commercial link-up. For some the damage has already been done.
Fifa’s new Champions Cup brings together the six continental club champions and it will be held in every non-Women’s Club World Cup year, while the next Women’s Club World Cup has been scheduled for January 2028. No host, nor any qualification rules, have yet been revealed for that new, larger tournament, but it appears very unlikely that a club owned by Kang would not be taking part.
Those close to the businesswoman feel it is clear that Kang’s motives are entirely innocent. She has also donated $4m to the USA women’s rugby sevens team. The global rise of women’s sport is her vision. It is clear her team feel nothing could be further from her mind, when financially investing in this tournament, than personal gain.
There is also a sense across the women’s game that it is different to men’s football, when it comes to the prospect of accepting cash from club owners, because it is in such need of investors and the sport is in a growing phase.
It was wrong, though, for Fifa to overlook the fact that Kang could stand to gain financially from future Fifa women’s tournaments. This year’s Champions Cup, for example, has announced that the winning team will receive $2.3m, while the runners-up will earn $1m. This time, Kang is putting money in, next time her winning team could take home a cash prize.
There are other potential examples, too, which should make Fifa wary of having entered into this deal. What if Gotham win this week’s $2.3m prize fund, subsequently offer to sign a player from Washington Spirit, and Kang’s negotiating team can ask for a bigger price, knowing the Fifa prize money has helped boost Gotham’s cash budget for any such signing?
It was not wrong for Kang to want to help a global women’s competition grow but it was wrong for Fifa to accept her money, and it is a sad state of affairs if there are so few financial backers for the women’s game that the organisers must turn to club owners for investment in competitions, rather than impartial sources.
