What Can Players And Clubs Do About 'AI Slop'?
By.
Dale Johnson
Football problems correspondent
2 March 2026
506 Comments
You do not need to look far on social networks to find images and videos of in not likely or strange circumstances.
Scroll through TikTok and you might soon come across Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo cutting each other's hair, or boarding the Titanic in Edwardian dress. You may even see Kylian Mbappe on a ski-lift with a turtle.
This is the outcome of the rapid development of synthetic intelligence (AI). Or, more specifically, AI 'slop'.
AI can be asked to provide basically anything. By anyone. The tools are becoming ever more sophisticated and easily available.
It will become even more difficult to identify what is real and what is, in AI terms, deepfake.
It may appear, for the most part, like safe enjoyable. After all, who actually thinks Messi and Ronaldo have been serving burgers?
But is there a point at which gamers and clubs will attempt to fix a limit?
Options are restricted for gamers to take action
As football has become a commercial juggernaut, players and clubs have actually had to find out how to take care of their brands.
That might be by protecting the club crest or challenging making use of a player's name in unauthorised promotional product.
Take Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer, who has trademarked the term 'Cold Palmer' with the UK government's Copyright Office. The 23-year-old did the very same with his name, sign and signature 'shivering' event.
Creating securities is one thing. Being able to tackle this new AI world of unrelenting material is another.
In the UK there is restricted legislation covering somebody's likeness. Or, as it is employed football, image rights.
Jonty Cowan, legal director at law firm Wiggin LLP, informed BBC Sport that AI existed "lots of unique obstacles".
" Various federal governments all over the world are attempting to figure out ... how do we react to AI?" said Cowan.
AI is being used to put gamers into real-life scenarios, along with those more obviously phony.
Take the unveilings of Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi by Manchester City in January.
The club's official pictures reveal each player with director of football Hugo Viana. Yet before those images had even been taken, you might find AI pictures of Semenyo and Guehi signing an agreement alongside manager Pep Guardiola.
There was another of Semenyo being greeted at the training centre by former player Yaya Toure, whose old team number - 42 - he was anticipated to take.
None of these occasions occurred, but it was difficult to inform the images were fake.
Last month, an image appeared of Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick with Frank Ilett - the supporter who will not cut his hair till the Red Devils win 5 games in a row.
Once again, it did not occur however looks so realistic.
And Cowan stated it was difficult for there to be any option when content is provided "in a non-contentious way".
Unless a person has suffered industrial or reputational damage, alternatives are restricted.
" It's always been quite challenging for an individual to enforce IP rights," Cowan stated. "If it is a deepfake that is showing them in a jeopardizing position, let's state, that's different."
The Data (Use and Access) Act came into force last month, making it a criminal offence to develop, share or request a sexually explicit deepfake.
But then you have AI-generated videos such as Celtic's Luke McCowan punching an assistant referee. Could it damage his reputation, or is it just not believeable?
A more important concern for gamers may be 'passing off'. This is where somebody unjustly associates their own products or services with the track record and goodwill of a recognized brand or company - or player.
It is planned to misguide customers into thinking they linked to it - to the hinderance of the recognized brand name.
Cowan explained that in December 2024, as part of an AI-related assessment, the UK government stated it was thinking about "presenting some sort of personality right".
That would provide a player more scope to do something about it.
Clubs, for their part, have a few more alternatives open up to them.
Social network accounts putting gamers in the shirts of their new team - or any group - is nothing brand-new.
But what if a club wanted to take issue?
" Where you have actually got, for example, the Man City kit they might look at other IP rights," Cowan said.
" Have they infringed the trademark in their crest? Or design rights in their t-shirt? For that type of image, that's what a club or an individual would likely be taking a look at."
BBC Sport comprehends City think fans know official channels stay the only places to choose any real news, images or videos.
But as the lines blur even more, will clubs keep that stance?
Tackling platforms more sensible than court action
While clubs and players might consider taking the creators of AI images to court, it is a long and pricey battle.
Cowan says there is a quicker and cheaper route: challenge the platforms directly.
" The Online Safety Act has been presented in the UK just recently, which is putting an obligation on platforms to deal with illegal material," he included.
" It may well be that we will see more systems that platforms will introduce to have that material removed. Often, that is the simplest and quickest way to tackle these images."
This could lead to a growth in companies looking after the digital rights of clubs and players.
Those that already exist scrape websites and apps - using AI, naturally - to determine where a company's copyright or a person's image may have been utilized.
They can request takedowns, effectively dealing with the usage of AI without the impacted parties getting straight included.
Bad actors might utilize AI for nefarious methods
AI provides opportunities as well as issues. Adverts and marketing material can be developed without gamers even requiring to leave their homes.
But together with the real AI-generated adverts, it is easy for unauthorised celebrations to take a player's likeness and use it to promote their service.
In 2015 the oversight board that runs Meta's appeals process prohibited an advert for a gaming app on Facebook, external that was created utilizing AI.
It included a controlled video of previous Brazil striker Ronaldo which imitated his voice. It was not chosen up by Meta's automated detection tools.
Meta was told to create "easily identifiable indicators that distinguish AI content" to prevent "considerable amounts of scam content".
It was a prime example of a platform being challenged and forced to act.
The Football Association has had to tackle controversy, too.
England head coach Gareth Southgate was targeted during Euro 2024. Fake AI-generated interviews revealed Southgate making negative remarks about his players.
The videos were reported and taken down. They were discovered to have actually breached TikTok's AI-generated policy, which prohibits material that "falsely shows public figures in certain contexts".
But by that point, the videos had actually been seen and shared by countless individuals.
Should users be required to state they have used AI?
Scrolling through apps today, it is unusual for anyone to indicate AI has actually been used.
That is even with TikTok's neighborhood guidelines asking users to "identify sensible AI-generated material" and banning content thought about to "harmfully misinform or impersonate others".
Cowan thinks there is unlikely to be any significant change to legislation, however platforms could be provided tougher guidelines.
" There are openness requirements under the EU AI Act," Cowan described, with the act not covering the UK.
" Under marketing policies, influencers need to reveal where a video they produce has actually been sponsored.
" I think we may end up with similar openness requirements. A little '#AI generated' or similar label in the corner."
The problem will be whether developers care, and how easy enforcement is for platforms.
Cowan included: "If you've got those outright videos, where somebody's putting out a horrible deepfake, they're not going to worry about including that label."
For now, a minimum of, it appears clubs are not too worried - that AI is just something happening on social media.
There might come a point they choose more action is required.