Kicking Off a New Era? AI in Football Contract Management
22nd August, 2025
The BBC recently reported that Cambridge United has become the first UK football club to use AI to help draft player and staff contracts.
There’s no doubt that technology like this offers clubs huge advantages: reduced costs and the ability to move quickly when negotiating and signing contracts. In a world where timing can be everything, efficiency is attractive. For example, lost time can mean lost transfers. Fans of Man United and Spurs often decry their clubs losing out on signings because other clubs move faster to lock down a star player’s signature. True or not, it is inarguable that speed is a massive asset in football, on and off the pitch.
Speed and savings can though come at the expense of certainty. Whilst it is probably true that clubs will favour the speed over the certainty in many instances, there are numerous examples of where vague or debatable wording in contracts have ‘cost’ clubs vast sums of money.
Our view is that AI-produced contracts should be integrated into a club with the assistance of the Club Secretary and legal advice and should then be subject to internal or external legal sign-off. Only then can clubs be confident that agreements reflect:
- the club’s specific intentions and wishes for that player
- the current and up to date regulatory requirements that apply in professional football
- applicable employment law requirements
One of the challenges an AI tool for player contracts would need to overcome (especially if it is drafting and completing contracts) is to ensure the content is compliant with English Football League (EFL) Regulations (in Cambridge United’s case, as a League Two Club) and employment law. Both of these can change more often than one might hope.
In Cambridge’s case, EFL Regulations and any requirements as to player contracts will usually be set at the AGM before the season begins but on occasions the regulations in football can occasionally shift mid-season (and suddenly) too.
If an AI system is to remain effective and reliable, it must be constantly updated in line with changes whenever they arise. Analysing unexpected regulatory changes can be very challenging – even for human lawyers, especially so when crucial legal rulings on existing regulations sometimes occur mid-season which then necessitate changes to FIFA/FA/League Regulations. For example, during the 2023/24 football season we witnessed mid-season chaos for football agents when FIFA’s Agent regulations were temporarily suspended due to legal challenges, creating a period of regulatory uncertainty for agents, players and clubs. Even with experienced professionals carrying out daily monitoring, matters became complex and very uncertain for all involved at just after midnight on 1 January 2024.
Without ongoing monitoring and cooperation between club, EFL, FA and potentially UEFA and FIFA, clubs‘ AI systems could inadvertently conclude contracts that are out of step with the latest current requirements. Without that ongoing real time alignment, clubs run the risk of embedding errors into their contracts at scale.
As lawyers advising on both sports law and AI-driven challenges and disputes, our recommendation is clear:
- yes, embrace AI for its efficiency and potential
- but do so with proper safeguards, including legal involvement at both the implementation stage and in reviewing individual contracts.
That combination – AI capability plus specialist legal oversight – is what will allow clubs to benefit from innovation without exposing themselves to additional regulatory or contractual risk. They can and will save a lot of time and money but still have the comfort that a qualified human has vetted their processes.
If you need legal advice and guidance on regulatory and governance matters within the sports sector, please contact Phil Edmondson, one of our expert sports lawyers. For issues relating to artificial intelligence, please contact Laura Hill, Partner in our commercial litigation team.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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