The inaugural season of World Sevens Football (W7F) will award $2.5 million to the winners.

The prize pot will make the two-day tournament the richest prize in women’s club football – approximately more than a million and a half more than the winners of the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

The tournament will run from 21st-23rd May in Portugal with eight invited clubs taking part: Manchester United, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Ajax, Benfica, PSG, Roma and FC Rosengard.

The games will be played on half-sized pitches with condensed goals in 30-minute games, with two groups of four teams, a semi-final then concluding with the final.

However, following the announcement of the tournament being launched, questions were being asked about the already packed schedule being further increased.

European giants such as Barcelona and Arsenal couldn’t enter World Sevens due to their progression in the Champions League, with the UWCL final coming just a day after the end of the tournament.

The Women’s European Championships start just over a month later, giving little to no rest and recuperation for the international players involved, as they will be joining up with their national team almost immediately following World Sevens Football.

With injury issues already being a concern for a lot of players and clubs involved, this tournament could just be seen as a further unnecessary risk, especially considering the influx amount of ACL injuries in the women’s game being linked to the busy schedules.

Investing in this newly formatted tournament is co-owner of the NWSL club Gotham FC, Jennifer Mackesy, and entrepreneur Justin Fishkin.

The players’ advisory for this tournament is made up of players like USWNT legend Tobin Heath, who said: “W7F is creating a future where women footballers have greater opportunities, financial security, and a bigger platform to connect with fans.”

They will be offering a total prize pot of $5 million for the whole tournament to help with investment in the women’s game and the clubs involved, but also to get them some financial security.

The World Cup remains the richest overall prize offering more than $10 million to the winning national team.