Together With Serena Williams, Natalie Portman Will Form The US Women's Football Club

Natalie Portman (Instagram/@natalieportman)

JAKARTA - Hollywood actress Natalie Portman and tennis player Serena Williams will form a professional football club in Los Angeles, United States (US). The plan will be realized from 2022.

In the project, Portman and Williams will work with a number of former US women's national football team players. They will join a ownership group that will oversee the club.

Olympic gold medalists and world champions Lauren Cheney Holiday and Abby Wambach are among the 14 former national team players who joined the ownership group called "Angel City". The National Women's Football League (NWSL) announced the plan to form an as-yet-unnamed team on Tuesday, July 21.

"Today we are taking an exciting step by announcing a group that is owned and led by a majority of women," Portman said in a statement quoted by Reuters on Wednesday, July 22.

"I am delighted at the opportunity to partner with these extraordinary people to bring a professional women's football team to Los Angeles," she added.

This team will later become the 11th team to enter the NWSL. They will follow the presence of another team, Racing Louisville, which debuted in 2021.

"The direction of NWSL growth is exciting, but we also need to be strategic and wise about how fast we are growing and the communities we partner with," said NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird.

"We have been looking for the right partner in LA for a long time considering the existing NWSL fanbase in the region and the great interest in women's football in general," added Baird.

Led by financiers Alexis Ohanian and Kara Nortman, as well as businessman Julie Uhrman, this club will also be built by other Hollywood celebrities, such as actors Uzo Aduba, Jessica Chastain, America Ferrera, Jennifer Garner, Eva Longoria and talk show host and YouTuber Lilly Singh.

Ohanian's wife, tennis player Serena Williams is also part of the founding of the investor group.