Manchester United will take part in the inaugural World Sevens football tournament at the end of May in Portugal, with the competition planning to expand to North America at the end of the year.
Ajax, Bayern Munich and Benfica will also lineup against Manchester United for the new event, with more teams to be announced in due course.
The four will compete in fast-paced, seven-aside competitions over three days for a $5 million prize pool, which will be divided between players, clubs and staff.
Man United manager Marc Skinner said: “This is a really exciting opportunity to be part of something new for the women’s game.”
Alex Kroes, technical director of Ajax, said: “Innovation is a priority within our club. World Sevens Football provides an exciting opportunity for our players to demonstrate their creativity and skill in a fast-paced format. We have a young and talented team with a lot of players from our own academy and we’re ready to compete fiercely.”
The tournament will take place from May 21-23, in Estoril, Portugal at el Estádio António Coimbra da Mota, with the Women’s Champions League final taking place on the opposite side of Lisbon on May 24.
The tournament also plans to expand, with a North American edition set to take place in the autumn.
“We are going to North America in November, December, which will obviously be announced,” head of football, Adrian Jacob told media.
“It’s not just going to be European clubs who are involved in world sevens football as an entity.”
The aim from World Sevens is to build up to five competitions in different continents over the coming years.
“We are aiming to grow the tournaments. This year we’ve got Europe and North America. Next year we hope to add maybe another one to that and we hope to build it to basically in the next three or four years to up to five around the world, which is where the bit in the world of World Sevens comes in that there will be in different jurisdictions all across the world,” he added.
There was concern over added extra games to an already packed schedule for top international talent across Europe.
With the competition set to take place a month before the start of the 2025 Euros in Switzerland, Jacob is not worried about the potential issues over player loading and extra games due to the format of the tournament.
“I don’t think the players are going to be wrapped in cotton wool a hundred percent for the international games,” he said, of the international break the week after the inaugural competition.
“We haven’t got the actual rosters yet, but they will be first team squads and obviously a lot of these clubs are very worldwide and global in their makeup, so we expect first team players.
“However, there is also the point that the games are much, much smaller or much shorter. The amount of players on the pitch is much less so how much any player is going to be playing because they’re bringing squads of let’s say 20, 22, maybe even 25. You can only have seven players on the picture at any given moment.”
Jacob confirmed that squad maximum will be 25, with 14 players available per game.
World Sevens has also formed a Player Advisory Council, comprised of former internationals like Tobin Heath, Anita Asante, Kelley O’Hara, Laura Georges, and Caroline Seger, overseeing the tournament.
The investment for the hefty prize fund has come from Jennifer Mackesy, Jacob confirmed.
The Gotham FC and Chelsea minority owner co-founded the tournament and is the principle investors in the competition, committing $100m over five years, alongside husband, Scott.
