World Sevens Football, the lucrative seven-a-side women’s series that will start in Portugal in May, is to hire one of Chelsea Women’s most senior figures, the Guardian understands.
According to sources, Chelsea’s executive manager, Adrian Jacob, who has been with the Women’s Super League champions for 11 years since joining as chairman, is poised to become the head of football at the global competition, which is yet to name any of its participating clubs.
Related: World Sevens Football: who will be taking part and how will it work?
Jacob has been one of the longest-serving stalwarts at Chelsea during an era when the club has won seven WSL titles and dominated the English women’s game. Alongside him have worked the head of women’s football, Paul Green, and, until last summer, Emma Hayes, who spent 12 years as Chelsea’s head coach before taking charge of the USA women’s team.
Jacob has said farewell to Chelsea in a post on LinkedIn, writing: “The last 11 years have provided some of the most incredible experiences and memories of my life. What started off as a random business meeting with Emma Hayes became one hell of a journey.
“I would like to thank all of my colleagues at Chelsea who have been there with me and all contributed huge amounts to what is an incredible team effort. I’d also like to thank all my colleagues at other clubs, leagues, federations and all stakeholders who have made this all so rewarding. To all the players, it has been phenomenal watching you play and win and win and win!”
The inaugural eight-team World Sevens event of a “grand slam” series will be held on 21-23 May in Estoril. The project is understood to have a funding commitment of $100m (£77m) over five years, with financial backing from the US-based philanthropist Jennifer Mackesy, who is a co-owner of the NWSL club Gotham FC and a minority owner of Chelsea Women.
The 30-minute matches, with rolling substitutions, will be broadcast live by the streaming platform Dazn, with a prize fund of $5m per event and with the winning teams understood to be set to receive $2.5m.
