Manchester United has been named one of the first teams to participate in a new Seven-a-Side competition for women.
The side of Marc Skinner will be accompanied by Bayern Munich, Ajax and Benfica for the World Sevens Football (W7F) competition that will take place in Estoril, Portugal next month.
In the groundbreaking new format, teams in Zeven-a-Side competitions compete of two halves of 15 minutes on pitches half the size of a regulation pitch and a prize pool of $ 5 million (£ 3.75 million) to be distributed between players, clubs and staff, promised by event.
The competition will be held in three days between 21-23 May 2025 Prior to the final of the Women's Champions League, also held in Portugal, on 24 May in the José Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon.
Skinner said: 'This is really an exciting opportunity to be part of something new for the women's game.
'Our only focus at the moment is on it as strong as possible to complete the interior season in the WSL and the FA Cup; Then we can travel to Portugal to enjoy what promises to be an entertaining three days quickly, fun, to be Zeven-a-Side Football. '
The teams are split into Round-Robin groups of four, feeding in semi-final and a final on the third day, with all sessions that are streamed live worldwide on Dazn.
The remaining four teams of the eight teams that will join Ella Toone and Co at the event still have to be confirmed.
Alex Kroes, technical director of Ajax, said: 'Innovation is a priority within our club. World Sevens Football offers our players an exciting opportunity to demonstrate their creativity and skills in a rapid layout.
“We have a young and talented team with many players from our own academy and we are ready to compete fiercely.”
World Sevens Football – who have the former United Player Tobin Heath in their Player Advisory Council – is planning to expand to Noord -America, with a different event planned for later in the year.