Lisa Mariana
The digital landscape of professional football is increasingly populated by artificial intelligence-generated content, presenting a complex challenge for players and clubs striving to protect their meticulously cultivated commercial and personal brands amidst a rising tide of fabricated imagery and narratives. This phenomenon, often colloquially termed "AI slop," refers to the widespread creation of synthetic media depicting athletes in implausible or entirely fictional scenarios, blurring the lines between authentic representation and digital fabrication with unprecedented ease and sophistication.
The proliferation of generative AI tools has democratized content creation, enabling individuals with minimal technical expertise to produce convincing deepfakes and altered media. From whimsical depictions of superstar players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo engaged in mundane activities such as hairstyling or historical reenactments aboard the Titanic, to more outlandish scenarios featuring Kylian Mbappé on a ski-lift with an unexpected animal companion, the spectrum of AI-generated content is vast. While much of this initially appears as innocuous entertainment, the underlying technology’s rapid advancement means distinguishing between genuine and synthetically generated content is becoming progressively more difficult, raising profound questions about authenticity and control within the sport’s global commercial ecosystem.
Professional football, a multi-billion-dollar industry, relies heavily on the integrity of its brands—from iconic club crests and team kits to the individual personas and reputations of its star players. Historically, safeguarding these assets has involved rigorous legal frameworks concerning intellectual property (IP), trademark infringement, and unauthorized promotional use. Clubs meticulously police the use of their logos and imagery, while players often register their names, likenesses, and even signature celebrations to prevent exploitation. For instance, Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer proactively secured trademarks for his moniker, ‘Cold Palmer,’ alongside his autograph and distinctive ‘shivering’ goal celebration, demonstrating a contemporary awareness of personal brand protection in an increasingly digital world. However, these traditional protective measures were not conceived to contend with the relentless, decentralized, and often anonymous nature of AI-driven content generation.
The existing legal landscape, particularly in jurisdictions like the United Kingdom, offers limited direct recourse for individuals whose likenesses are used without consent, especially when the usage is not overtly commercial or defamatory. Jonty Cowan, a legal director at Wiggin LLP, highlights that generative AI presents "numerous novel challenges" to established legal paradigms. Governments globally are grappling with how to effectively regulate artificial intelligence, a technology that evolves at a pace far outstripping conventional legislative cycles. This regulatory vacuum leaves a significant gap in protecting individual rights, particularly when the fabricated content appears benign.
While a deepfake of a player serving burgers might seem harmless, the technology’s capacity for realism poses a more insidious threat. Instances have emerged where AI has been used to create highly convincing, yet entirely fictitious, scenarios that mimic official club announcements. For example, before actual transfer unveilings, AI-generated images have depicted players like Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guéhi signing contracts with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, or being greeted by club legends, complete with authentic-looking kits and settings. Similarly, a believable deepfake image of Manchester United coach Michael Carrick interacting with a renowned fan, despite the event never occurring, underscores the technology’s deceptive power. In these cases, where the content is presented in a seemingly "non-contentious manner," establishing grounds for legal action, particularly demonstrating commercial or reputational damage, proves exceedingly difficult.
The legal framework does provide some specific protections. The Data (Use and Access) Act, recently enacted in the UK, criminalizes the creation, sharing, or requesting of sexually explicit deepfakes, addressing a critical ethical and safety concern. However, this legislation offers no remedy for non-sexual, reputationally damaging content. Consider an AI-generated video depicting a player, such as Celtic’s Luke McCowan, assaulting an assistant referee. While some might dismiss it as obviously fake, its virality could inflict significant reputational harm, raising questions about what constitutes believable damage in the digital age.
A more pertinent legal avenue for players and clubs is the concept of "passing off." This legal principle addresses situations where one entity misleadingly associates its products or services with the goodwill and reputation of another established brand or individual, thereby deceiving consumers. If AI-generated content is used to create a false association that benefits an unauthorized third party at the expense of a player’s or club’s brand, a case for passing off might be considered. Recognizing these gaps, the UK government indicated in a December 2024 AI-related consultation that it is actively exploring the introduction of a specific "personality right." Such a right would significantly empower individuals, including footballers, to take action against the unauthorized use of their likeness and identity, offering a more direct legal instrument than current IP laws.
Clubs, with their broader portfolio of intellectual property, possess a slightly wider range of options. Beyond the player’s individual image rights, clubs can invoke trademark rights over their crests and design rights pertaining to their official kits. Therefore, AI-generated images depicting players in unauthorized club merchandise or with falsely represented club insignia could trigger legal action based on these established IP protections. Currently, major clubs like Manchester City convey a public stance that their fan base is sophisticated enough to differentiate between official club channels and unofficial, AI-generated content. However, as the verisimilitude of synthetic media continues to advance, maintaining this detached position may become untenable, necessitating a more proactive defense of their digital assets.
Pursuing legal action against the creators of AI-generated content is often a protracted and expensive endeavor, particularly when creators are anonymous or located in different jurisdictions. A more pragmatic and potentially swifter approach, as suggested by legal experts, involves challenging the platforms directly. The UK’s Online Safety Act, a landmark piece of legislation, places statutory obligations on social media platforms to address and remove illegal content. This framework could compel platforms to implement more robust mechanisms for identifying and taking down unauthorized AI-generated images and videos. This shift of responsibility could foster the growth of specialized digital rights management (DRM) companies, which already leverage AI to autonomously scan websites and applications for intellectual property infringements and unauthorized use of likenesses, then initiate takedown requests on behalf of affected parties, streamlining the enforcement process.
The dual nature of AI presents both formidable challenges and significant opportunities. For instance, AI can facilitate the creation of promotional material and advertising campaigns without requiring a player’s physical presence, offering efficiency and flexibility. However, this same capability can be exploited by unauthorized entities to create convincing, yet fraudulent, advertisements. A notable case involved a gambling application advert on Facebook, which utilized a manipulated video of former Brazilian striker Ronaldo, complete with an imitated voice. This deepfake bypassed Meta’s automated detection tools, leading the oversight board to demand Meta develop "easily identifiable indicators that distinguish AI content" to combat the proliferation of scam content. This incident underscored the critical need for platform accountability and transparency.
Even governing bodies like The Football Association have encountered the disruptive potential of AI. During Euro 2024, England head coach Gareth Southgate was targeted by fake AI-generated interviews in which he appeared to make derogatory remarks about his players. While these videos were eventually reported and removed for violating TikTok’s policies against content that "falsely shows public figures in certain contexts," they had already garnered millions of views and shares, demonstrating the speed at which misinformation can disseminate before any corrective action can be taken.
Despite evolving platform guidelines, the voluntary labeling of AI-generated content by creators remains rare. TikTok, for example, explicitly requests users to "label realistic AI-generated content," yet compliance is low. Jonty Cowan suggests that a major overhaul of legislation might be less likely than the imposition of tougher rules on platforms, potentially mirroring the transparency requirements found in the EU AI Act, which mandates disclosure for AI systems, or existing advertising regulations that require influencers to declare sponsored content. Implementing a simple "#AI generated" label could become a standard requirement. However, the efficacy of such measures remains questionable, as malicious actors intent on creating deceptive deepfakes are unlikely to adhere to transparency guidelines.
For the immediate future, many football clubs appear to regard AI-generated content as a peripheral social media phenomenon, distinct from their core commercial operations. However, as AI technology continues its inexorable march towards hyperrealism and its potential for misuse expands beyond playful deepfakes to genuine reputational and commercial threats, this stance will likely need to evolve. The confluence of advanced AI, insufficient legal frameworks, and the viral nature of digital content demands a proactive, multi-faceted strategy from all football stakeholders, balancing the embrace of technological innovation with robust mechanisms to safeguard integrity and trust in the sport’s digital identity. The critical juncture for defining football’s response to the synthetic frontier is rapidly approaching.
Aura Kasih
Ridwan Kamil