August 2026 Events with Lagom Sports Compliance
August is a two-session month for us, and both sessions land at a genuinely useful moment in the IFR's own timeline. The final licensing rules have been published, the application window is now weeks away, and the governance standard the Regulator expects is no longer a future obligation to plan around, it is a present one clubs are being actively assessed against. Below is what we are running this month, why each session earns its place on a busy calendar, and an early look at what September has in store.
This month at a glance
Two free sessions in August, both delivered live online, both built for the people who actually sit in front of a board when governance and licensing questions get asked: owners, board members, chief executives, finance directors, compliance officers, club secretaries, sporting directors and legal teams.
Free ODSE training for current and future SMFs
Why this one matters: the corporate governance statement is not an optional extra bolted onto an IFR licence application. It is one of the four mandatory conditions every regulated club has to satisfy -- and, unlike some of the other conditions, it is judged largely on the quality of what a board can actually demonstrate rather than a single quantitative threshold a club either meets or does not. A finance director can point to a revenue figure. A board cannot point to a number for "genuine oversight." It has to be evidenced through documented decision-making, clear delegation, and a real record of how risk gets escalated and managed. This is precisely the gap most boards do not know they have until someone asks them to prove it.
Free webinar: Independent Football Regulator Licensing: What Clubs Must Build Before Applying
Why this one matters: with the final rules now published and the application window opening on 1 November, the gap between "we know licensing is coming" and "we have actually mapped our evidence against every threshold requirement" is the single biggest risk factor we see in clubs right now. The live gap assessment in this session is deliberately built around a fictional club rather than a real one, precisely so every attendee can score their own club against the same criteria in real time without exposing anything about their own position -- a genuinely useful way to get an honest first read on where you actually stand, three months out from the window opening.
Governance is judged on what a board can evidence, not what it can assert. Licensing readiness is judged on the gap between knowing the rules and having mapped your own evidence against them. Both sessions this month are built around that same distinction.
A first look at September
Not August, but close enough that it is worth putting in your diary now rather than discovering it in three weeks' time.
Free webinar: EU Legislation Impacting UK Football Clubs - The Regulatory Risks Most Clubs Are Not Preparing For
Why this one matters: this is the session that connects the dots most clubs treat as separate problems. AMLA, UEFA's financial sustainability rules, IFR licensing, EU sanctions exposure and the EU's emerging AI and data legislation are usually discussed as if they sit in different compliance silos, handled by different people, on different timelines. They do not. They are converging on the same boards, often through the same counterparty relationships -- an EU-based investor, an EU agent, a sponsorship deal with EU exposure -- and a club that has not mapped where that convergence actually lands is managing five separate risks it should be managing as one connected picture.
Help us build what comes after September
We plan our events calendar around what clubs are actually asking us, and we would genuinely value your input on what comes next. If there is a topic, a specific regulatory question, or a format -- a seminar, a workshop, a longer training session -- you think would be useful for your club, your board or your team, we would love to hear it.
Message us on LinkedIn or email us directly at info@lagomsportscompliance.com with your suggestions. We read every one.
Two free sessions in August. A third already on the calendar for September. All built around what regulated clubs actually need to know right now.
Lagom Sports Compliance is the leading specialist governance, risk, compliance and anti-financial crime consultancy built exclusively for professional football, globally. Our free events are open to owners, board members, executives and compliance teams across every club in scope of the IFR's licensing regime.