“A boardroom is better for having someone in it who’s been the player affected by its decisions.” That is the verdict of Maria Karlsson, who spent over two decades playing elite football across four countries, including a spell at AS Saint-Étienne, before co-founding CMG in Stockholm in 2015, a global agency representing players, coaches, decision-makers and clubs exclusively in women’s football.
In this edition of The Pundit’s Seat, Karlsson talks about the structural gap in the market that led her to found an agency exclusively for women’s football, why former players are increasingly moving into boardrooms and governance roles across the game, how FIFA’s 2021 and 2024 maternity regulations are reshaping contract negotiations and career longevity, and what she hopes participants take away from CMG’s Women in Sport Leadership Exchange at WFS Madrid’s 10th anniversary edition.
With over two decades in elite football across four countries—including playing at top clubs like AS Saint-Étienne—alongside a degree in Sport Science, you possess a rare blend of on-pitch and academic expertise. When you co-founded CMG in Stockholm back in 2015, how did that background shape your vision for what modern athlete representation should look like?
A: The playing years taught me things a business degree never could. I saw contracts with no maternity language, no career planning beyond the pitch, terms that were copy-pasted from the men’s game. When we started CMG in 2015, I wanted an agency built by people who’d actually lived it, not consultants looking in from outside. With decades of experience from women’s football, we looked at the game and listened to the people who lived it. We want to set new standards and shape the market.
When CMG was established a decade ago, creating an agency dedicated exclusively to women’s football was far from common practice. What specific unmet needs or structural failures in player welfare, career guidance, and commercial strategy did you identify in the market that made a dedicated agency necessary?
A: In 2015 no agency was built exclusively for women’s football. Players were represented by agents for whom the women’s game was one interest among many, not the focus. Clubs had no reference point for what a player was worth, so players took what was offered. We believed that gap needed an agency whose only job was women’s football. CMG is a global agency representing players, coaches, decision makers and clubs at the highest level, exclusively in the world of women’s football, and that exclusivity has been core for us.
Having operated at the core of the women’s game both as an elite player and now as an executive, you have witnessed its commercial transformation firsthand. From your perspective, what has been the most significant leap forward over the last decade, and what critical bottleneck still slows down the sport’s development?
A: The commercial side has transformed. Clubs and brands now build real campaigns around women players, and broadcast and bigger tournaments have changed the economics. The bottleneck is structural: calendar, prize money and investment are inconsistent from league to league, and medical support at some clubs still isn’t built for a women’s season.
In leagues like the WSL, 6 out of 8 current head coaches have elite playing backgrounds, and former players are increasingly moving into executive, governance, and ownership roles across FIFA, UEFA, federations, and clubs. What distinct value does ‘lived playing experience’ bring to executive boardrooms?
A: Lived experience means you catch problems before they get expensive. You know what a bad international window does to a squad, and which clause in a contract matters on a random Tuesday, not just on signing day. A boardroom is better for having someone in it who’s been the player affected by its decisions. What we will see in the upcoming years is a game with former players becoming executives and leaders, in governance bodies, clubs and organisations around the game. And that’s something very positive.
CMG’s mission centers on elevating value, shifting power, and driving a more equal future. How does having former female players sitting on decision-making committees and at negotiation tables change the dynamic when dealing with institutional bodies, clubs, and commercial sponsors?
A: Former players at the table change which questions get asked in the first place, instead of only surfacing once they’re a problem. It’s not adversarial. The other side just knows you understand the deal from both sides. At CMG we have a female chair of the board, a female CEO and a team of FIFA-licensed female agents. I believe that elevates value, shifts power and drives a more equal future.
As an active member of the FIFA Football Agent Working Group, you have a close view of regulatory changes. Following the introduction of FIFA’s maternity regulations in 2021 and their updates in 2024, how are these legal protections practical game-changers for extending players’ career lifespans and structuring contract negotiations?
A: The 2021 regulations gave real protections on leave, return to play and termination. 2024 went further: adoptive and non-biological parents, menstrual health, family connection during international duty. Maternity is now becoming a normal topic in a negotiation, not a fight, and that alone extends careers. We are still in a transition period, but we see a lot of progress. We are proud of having many of our clients being parents or being pregnant, and we want to support them in this important part of their lives too.
While FIFA regulations set the mandatory minimum standard for maternity support, implementation varies. How can forward-thinking clubs move beyond mere regulatory compliance and turn holistic maternity and athlete care into a genuine competitive advantage to attract and retain top talent?
A: FIFA sets the floor, not the ceiling. Clubs that go further (flexible training loads on return, real medical and psychological support, a guaranteed pathway back into the squad) keep their best players longer and are the ones top talent picks. That’s a recruitment advantage, not a compliance box.
At WFS Madrid’s 10th Anniversary edition, CMG is co-creating the ‘Women in Sport Leadership Exchange’ to connect senior decision-makers across the industry. How does this partnership align with CMG’s vision for 2028, and what tangible shift in mindset do you hope participants take away from the summit?
A: Our 2028 vision is to be the progressive leading agency in women’s football: respected advisors who set standards, not just react to them. The Women in Sport Leadership Exchange connects executives, athletes, board members and sponsors who don’t normally sit in the same room. I want people to leave knowing women’s football leadership isn’t a side conversation. It’s the same one, and the pipeline needs building now.
To close, the broader football ecosystem is currently experiencing intense political friction between governing bodies like FIFA, UEFA, and international leagues over match calendars and tournament formats. Do you believe that increasing the presence of female leaders and former players in the highest governance seats could alter how these power struggles are managed, or perhaps help prevent them altogether?
A: More women or former players at the top won’t make the fight over calendars and formats disappear. That’s about power and money, not gender. What changes is what gets prioritised inside it. People who’ve played the extra games know what an overloaded calendar costs a body and a career. That’s missing from the room now, but we’re already seeing that change coming fast.
