Corporate crime in sport: New risk for sports businesses

Overview

From 29 June 2026, the Crime and Policing Act 2025 (CPA) renders all UK sports organisations directly liable for any criminal offense committed by a senior manager acting within their actual or apparent authority. Previously this power was limited to economic crimes only.

The new power will likely embolden enforcement agencies and adds to the existing corporate criminal risks created by the corporate failure to prevent bribery, failure to prevent fraud and the failure to prevent facilitation of tax evasion offences, which have been in force for some time.

The new law is intended to make it easier to prosecute corporates, and it will do so. One of the largest corporate criminal sanctions imposed in the UK to date saw the enforcement authorities attack the world of sport with Entain PLC being fined £65 million.

Sports businesses may not yet be as attuned to the risks of criminal liability and the need to have effective compliance systems in place. This may lead to the world of sport being of increased interest to enforcement agencies.

 

The new law

A ‘senior manager’ is broadly defined under the CPA1 to include any individual with meaningful decision-making authority and will cover anyone who plays a significant role in managing or organising the whole, or a substantial part, of a company's affairs. This will likely include directors, in addition to senior personnel such as heads of divisions, business units or support functions if they have decision-making authority and significant strategic or administrative responsibilities.

To confer liability, the senior manager will have committed any criminal offence under the laws of the United Kingdom whilst acting within the actual or apparent scope of their authority. There is no requirement for the organisation to have authorised the criminal activity. The critical question will be whether the senior manager was performing an authorised activity, even if in doing so they breached relevant internal policies. 

The CPA has extraterritorial effect and can be used against sports businesses incorporated overseas, and conduct occurring overseas, if the organisation could be criminally liable in the UK for that conduct.

 

How could the law be used against sport?

As stated, the law is intentionally broad in its scope, but examples of how it could be used against a sports organisation include:

False accounting

Financial Fair Play Rules impose restrictions on spending by football clubs in the Premier League and EFL.

If directors of a club colluded with an accountant to massage the books or make a false statement to get around these rules, a prosecution for false accounting of the directors and the Club might be brought.  FA Premier League Rule E65 also imposes an obligation to only enter a transaction at “Fair Market Value”. Inflating or suppressing a value is also likely to be false accounting.

Fraudulent trading

A rugby club continues to trade and compete in circumstances where it knew it was insolvent. If in doing so senior managers committed an offence under the Companies Act 2006  or made false representations in breach of the Fraud Act 2006, the club could also face prosecution.

Bribery

A manager makes an undisclosed payment to an offshore account held by a player's agent to ensure the player signs for their team during the transfer window. Whether or not the club knew of the payment, if the manager was acting within the scope of their authority, and a bribery offence was committed by the manager, the club could now also be prosecuted.

Tax evasion

A professional cricketer is paid additional sums for his "image rights" by his club to improperly reduce his tax. The scheme was put together by the Director of Cricket and members of the finance team without any involvement by the board. If the senior manager test is met by the individuals involved, the club could be prosecuted.

Money laundering

A leading set of stables accepts a "sponsorship deal" which it knows, or reasonably suspects, was being paid for with funds that were criminal in their origin. If senior managers orchestrated the deal, the organisation could also be prosecuted.

Unlawful hiring practices 

An HR director at a sporting rights business commits an immigration or modern slavery offence if, when hiring individuals, they for example knowingly engage a provider which uses forced labour.

Workplace misconduct 

The Head of Sales at a sport’s governing body harasses one of their direct reports e.g. sending repeated unwanted communications, or by being intimidatory.

How the risks can be mitigated:

1. Review or undertake a crime-related risk assessment to identify high risk activities.
2. Have a clear zero-tolerance approach to all crime, in particular economic crime, that is publicly stated and clearly and regularly communicated to all employees.
3. Draft and implement appropriate internal policies to ensure that the risk of criminal activity is reduced. For example, ensure that no senior employee can act independently on deals worth above a certain amount.
4. Adopt robust HR policies, with additional vetting for anyone who might be a senior manager.
5. Ensure internal audit is given adequate remit and resource to uncover potential impropriety.
6. Require the involvement of independent professional advisers in higher risk transactions.
7. Conduct adequate due diligence on relevant third parties doing business with your organisation.

 

Conclusion

The sports industry is still somewhat behind other businesses in introducing criminal risk mitigation and compliance measures and may well lack standard precautions that organisations in other sectors routinely have in place.

Alongside the corporate failure to prevent offences, this CPA provision will give prosecutors an increasingly powerful toolbox. If those in the business of sport do not review their processes, they risk leaving an open goal: watching the likes of the Serious Fraud Office, or the police, slam the ball into the back of the net will not be a joyful experience.

 

Authored by 

Jeremy Summers
Consultant