Sponsor licences – permits granted by the UK Home Office that allow clubs to sponsor work visas for international sportspeople and skilled workers – are vital to the success of football clubs across the UK. Clubs playing in the top tiers of the men’s and women’s game rely on their sponsor licences to not only bring in the best international on-field talent, but also to ensure they have the best teams in place behind the scenes.

We all know that business in the world of football moves fast, and when sights have been set on a new player signing or the appointment of a new Chief Executive, there’s little room for delay to get the job done. However, the sponsorship of migrant players and workers is strictly regulated, and non-compliance with the sponsorship regime can have serious consequences. Care must therefore be taken to ensure the sponsorship process is carried out correctly and the sponsor licence is managed effectively.

Sponsor licence compliance

Sponsor licence holders – which include many top-tier football clubs – have the benefit of being able to recruit talented individuals from around the world. The Home Office (responsible for issuing and revoking such licences) imposes a range of responsibilities and obligations on sponsors for this privilege. In a time where the Home Office has significantly escalated enforcement action against non-compliant sponsors (1,948 licences were revoked for non-compliance between July 2024 and June 2025, which is more than double the number of licences revoked in the previous 12 months), clubs must be aware of their sponsor duties and have systems in place to ensure they remain compliant.

Revocation of a licence due to compliance breaches could lead to current sponsored players and workers having their visas curtailed. It would also render the club unable to sponsor any further visas for a certain period.

Sponsor duties

The sponsor duties are broad and set out across several documents that make up the Home Office’s “Sponsor Guidance”. In amongst this Sponsor Guidance is now (as of March 2026) a positive duty on sponsors to read all parts of the Sponsor Guidance and to remain aware of its often-changing content. If you are involved in the process of sponsoring players and staff, now is the time to delve into Parts 1, 2 and 3, the appendices, and the relevant route-specific guidance and glossary (enjoy!).

The key sponsor duties fall into the following categories:

Record keeping: Sponsors are required to retain certain documents on file relating to the club and each sponsored player/ worker. Such documents go above the usual HR records, which will be held for all employees and include evidence of the date the individual entered the UK, a history of their contact details, copies of qualifications workers hold and all documents and information submitted as part of the application to obtain an endorsement from the sport’s governing body for all sponsored players.

Monitoring and reporting: Sponsors have a duty to report certain information or events to the Home Office within specified timescales. Sponsors must therefore have effective systems in place to monitor sponsored migrants and changes to the club’s corporate entity, to ensure that the necessary reports are made on time. Has a manager left the club before the end of their visa? Has a player been absent from work on reduced pay for more than 4 weeks in a calendar year? Has a new owner taken over control of the club? If so, these are amongst the many events which would trigger a need for a report.

Sponsorship of eligible roles: Sponsors must ensure they sponsor only individuals who have the skills, qualifications and experience necessary to carry out the role in question. Further, the role itself must meet the requirements for sponsorship. Particularly relevant where a sponsor licence is used to employ backroom staff in specialist roles, the worker must be carrying out the duties as described on their certificate of sponsorship, as sponsored migrants are only permitted to carry out the role for which they’ve been sponsored. This should be straightforward for players, who are unlikely to switch into a marketing role during their tenure, however, any changes in duties or promotions of workers sponsored under the Skilled Worker route must be assessed in advance to ensure that such changes won’t trigger the requirement for a new visa.

Compliance with laws: Sponsors have a duty to comply with immigration and wider UK law. This includes a positive duty to conduct compliant right to work checks, comply with UK employment laws, pay VAT or other taxes and not engage in criminal activity.

Spring 2026 updates

Several significant updates were made to the Home Office’s Sponsor Guidance this spring. The key points which clubs need to be aware of are:

Right to work checks: Sponsors engaging workers who aren’t direct employees now have a positive duty to check that such workers have the right to work in the UK (and not to solely carry out checks on employees and sponsored workers). Clubs that engage matchday staff will need to assess whether their onboarding processes satisfy this new requirement. Where workers are employed by a related organisation, the sponsor must obtain a copy of the right to work check conducted by the employer, if the sponsor is not carrying out its own check.

Duty to inform sponsored migrants of their employment rights: Sponsors have a duty to comply with UK employment laws, but now the Home Office has also added a positive duty to ensure their sponsored players and staff are aware of their employment rights. Evidence that this information has been shared must be maintained as part of the record keeping duties (e.g. written communication, training or awareness courses).

Eligible roles: The term ‘eligible role’ was introduced to the Sponsor Guidance this spring. Sponsors must only sponsor individuals in eligible roles – meaning roles that genuinely exist, require the migrant to perform specific duties and responsibilities within a specified number of hours each week, meet the requirements of the relevant immigration route and are appropriate to the sponsor’s business.

What should clubs be doing?

Given the increased crackdown on sponsor non-compliance and the ever-evolving sponsor duties, now is the time for clubs to review their sponsor licence (and wider immigration) compliance.

Those involved in the sponsor licence processes should consider taking the following actions:

• Conduct a sponsor licence audit to identify and rectify any areas of non-compliance, including considering whether any late reports are required.
• Provide training to personnel involved in the sponsorship process to ensure they understand the sponsor duties and the importance of compliance.
• Review existing right to work check and onboarding processes to ensure they meet up-to-date requirements.
• Update right to work policies and provide training to staff involved with the onboarding process.

How we can support you

If you have any questions about sponsor licence compliance or would like to discuss how these developments may affect your club, please get in touch with Shabana Muneer, Ruth Jowett, or a member of our Employment & Immigration team, who would be happy to assist.