Lagom Sports Compliance partners with RiskSmart to bring governance technology into professional football
Referral partnership will put football licensing and anti-money laundering obligations into a live GRC platform, giving clubs, agents and investors an auditable record rather than a folder of spreadsheets.
LONDON and MANCHESTER, 3 September 2026 -- Lagom Sports Compliance, the leading specialist governance, risk, compliance and anti-financial crime advisory built exclusively for professional football, has entered a formal referral partnership with RiskSmart, the governance, risk and compliance software platform used by banks, payment firms, pension providers and other regulated businesses. The two firms will work together to make football's new regulatory obligations manageable inside a single system of record.
The partnership has three components. Depending on the client and their needs, Lagom will use the RiskSmart platform to deliver and manage the day-to-day elements of its retained client work. Lagom will refer clients directly to RiskSmart where a club, agency or investor needs its own platform rather than an outsourced service. And the two firms are jointly mapping football's regulatory obligations and controls into the platform, so that an organisation adopting RiskSmart on Lagom's recommendation starts with a football-specific obligations framework already configured rather than an empty system.
Why this matters now
English football's licensing regime is arriving on a fixed timetable. The Independent Football Regulator finalised its licensing rulebook on 1 July 2026 and will open the provisional licence application window on 1 November 2026, closing on 26 February 2027, with licensing binding from the 2027/28 season. Around 116 clubs across the top five divisions of the men's game are in scope. Separately, professional clubs and licensed agents in the European Union enter the formal anti-money laundering perimeter on 10 July 2029 under Regulation (EU) 2024/1624.
Both regimes are evidential. A club will not be judged on whether it holds the right policies but on whether it can show, on demand and in a form a regulator can follow, who owns each obligation, what controls sit behind it, when those controls were last tested and what happened when something went wrong. Regulated financial services firms abandoned spreadsheets for that task years ago. Football is being asked to reach the same standard from a standing start, and in many cases with a compliance function of one or two people.
The financial exposure is not theoretical. The regulator's sanctions include censure statements, financial penalties of up to 10 per cent of revenue and, for persistent or aggravated non-compliance, suspension or revocation of a club's operating licence. Enforcement action can also be taken against individuals holding senior management functions.
Every club I speak to understands what it has to do. What almost none of them has is a place to put it. Obligations sit in email, board papers and somebody's spreadsheet, and none of that survives a regulator asking for evidence eighteen months later. RiskSmart already does this for banks and payment firms, and pairing their platform with our regulatory content means a club can stand behind its record rather than reconstruct it under pressure.
Jonathan Greenstein, Co-founder and Director, Lagom Sports Compliance
We're going into sport because the problem is familiar even if the industry isn't. A club building a compliance function from nothing needs somewhere to put obligations, controls and evidence that isn't a spreadsheet or someone's inbox. RiskSmart gives them that system. Pairing it with Lagom's football-specific regulatory content means clubs aren't starting from an empty platform, they're starting from one already built for their world.
Claudia Coutinho-De Somma, Senior Account & Partnerships Executive, RiskSmart
The two firms will publish co-authored content across both platforms over the coming months and are planning a joint webinar on the role of technology in football and sports compliance.
Notes to editors
1. The Football Governance Act 2025 established the Independent Football Regulator for the top five divisions of English men's football. The licensing rulebook was finalised on 1 July 2026. Provisional licence applications open on 1 November 2026 and close on 26 February 2027, with the regime binding from the 2027/28 season. The Owners, Directors and Senior Executives regime is already in force.
2. Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, the EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation, brings professional football clubs and licensed football agents within the scope of EU anti-money laundering obligations from 10 July 2029. United Kingdom clubs are not regulated persons under the Money Laundering Regulations, but remain subject to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Terrorism Act 2000.
3. Under the Act, the Independent Football Regulator may impose financial penalties of up to 10 per cent of annual revenue, issue censure statements, and suspend or revoke a club's operating licence in cases of persistent or aggravated non-compliance.
About Lagom Sports Compliance
Lagom Sports Compliance is the leading specialist governance, risk, compliance and anti-financial crime advisory firm built exclusively for professional football. Founded by Jonathan Greenstein and Isabel Lemes, the firm advises clubs, agents, investors and competition organisers across the United Kingdom and the European Union on Independent Football Regulator licensing under the Football Governance Act 2025, EU anti-money laundering obligations, UEFA financial sustainability requirements, football agent regulation and operational resilience. Its consultants come from regulated financial services backgrounds and provide hands-on delivery capacity alongside advisory support. Lagom Sports Compliance is a trading name of Lagom Consultants Limited, registered in England and Wales, company number 15527181. lagomsportscompliance.com
About RiskSmart
RiskSmart is a governance, risk and compliance software platform founded in Manchester and built by risk managers for the teams who carry the compliance workload. The platform covers risk, policy, compliance, internal audit and third-party risk in a single system, with regulatory obligation tracking, configurable reporting and dashboards and AI-supported risk management. It is used by organisations across banking, payments and e-money, pensions, retail, law firms, energy and professional services, from mid-market businesses to enterprise. RiskSmart is registered in England and Wales, company number 13014743. risksmart.com