Last reviewed: 8 September 2026
1. We label what kind of thing you're reading
The Act, the regulator's own rules, and our practical opinion are three different things, and they shouldn't look identical. Across the site, key statements carry a small badge:
- Law a statement of what the Football Governance Act 2025 itself says, traceable to a section or schedule.
- IFR Rules a binding rule the Independent Football Regulator has made under the Act.
- IFR Guidance the regulator's guidance or the Football Club Corporate Governance Code, which is comply-or-explain rather than statute.
- IFR Hub Analysis our reading of how the framework fits together. Informed, but our interpretation, not law.
- Practical Recommendation what we would advise a club to do. Advice, not a requirement.
The Act, answered is drawn entirely from primary law, so every answer there is badged Law and deep-links to the exact provision. Where our view and the official position ever differ, the official position prevails.
2. The evidence standard for factual claims
Where we state a fact — a date, a figure, a past event — we trace it to the most authoritative source available, preferring higher tiers over lower:
Sources are cited next to the claims they support, most visibly on the Learn pages. The Act and the IFR's own publications are always the ultimate authority; where you need certainty, go to them — we link them on every regulatory page.
3. We date everything, because the regime is moving
The framework is new and still being built, so dates and rules change. Every substantive regulatory page shows when it was last reviewed and when it is next due for review, and the timeline marks each milestone as historical, confirmed, expected, or our own indicative reading. If something here is out of date at the moment you read it, the primary sources we link to are the correction.
4. Who writes it
Written content is authored and reviewed by people with regulatory and football-governance experience — see who leads this. AI assists with drafting and with podcast and video narration, always under Fideo Global's editorial control. IFR Hub is independent and is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the Independent Football Regulator.