A first that says plenty
On Tuesday night in Madrid, an American stepped up to collect a trophy nobody like her had ever won before.
Michele Kang was named 2026 executive of the year by the World Football Summit, becoming the first woman to land the award. The president of Olympique Lyonnais and OL Lyonnes kept it understated. “Being the first woman to receive this award is especially meaningful,” she said in a club statement.
The club went a step further, saying it sees the honour as a sign of the growing role women are playing in football leadership and development.
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Three clubs, two continents
Kang does more than run things in Lyon. She also owns the London City Lionesses and Washington Spirit. The panel recognised an influence that stretches well beyond France, across both men’s and women’s football in Europe and North America.
The key part of her case has a name: Kynisca. The multi-club organisation, launched in 2024, is entirely focused on women’s football. It’s built to last, not to make a quick splash.
That is the pitch she keeps making. Back the long-term project in infrastructure, leadership and performance. She believes the talent is already there, along with the demand. What was missing was everything else.
A list with a different look
Look at the names ahead of her. Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Ferran Soriano. Fernando Carro. Aleksander Ceferin. Heavy hitters from giant clubs and European institutions.
Kang has joined that list by a different route. Not through some inherited old giant, but through a project built around a part of the game many still treated as an afterthought five years ago.
In Lyon, the season still has to be played. The trophy, though, is already in the cabinet.
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