A new boxing format which promises to eliminate often-controversial human judging decisions is in talks to raise $50m from heavyweight investors amid a broader shake-up in the funding and marketing of combat sports.

Sky News has learnt that STRIKR, which will use data-driven scoring by embedding sensors in combatants’ mouthguards and deploying technology from partners including Hawk-Eye, is in detailed talks with a large number of prospective backers about its first major funding round.

Sources said that scores of prospective investors were due to attend the first alpha test of STRIKR’s technology in action at an event to be held at The Outernet, an entertainment venue in Central London, this week.

People close to STRIKR’s development said its proprietary technology could track the exact trajectory, speed and force of punches.

This, they said, would open up huge betting market opportunities by enabling live in-play gambling, which they added would boost consumers’ engagement with the sport.

Among the architects of STRIKR are Greg Nugent, who oversaw the marketing of the London 2012 Olympic Games, and Michael Sutherland, former chief transformation officer at Real Madrid.

Stephen Duval, founder of sports and entertainment corporate finance group 23Capital and creator of Superset Tennis and Superfighter, is also among STRIKR’s co-founders.

Sources said the initial fundraising of about $50m would be followed by a larger capital-raising as the concept gained momentum.

Oakwell Advisory, a sports-focused corporate finance firm, is advising STRIKR on its talks with investors.

They added that STRIKR had the potential to “revolutionise” boxing in the same way that T20 had changed international cricket and that data-driven technology and smarter marketing had introduced Formula One motor racing to new audiences.

STRIKR is understood to work by using artificial intelligence combined with technology from Hawk-Eye Innovations and Protecht to generate more than 3,000 points of data about each punch thrown by a boxer.

By promising to eliminate the controversy which frequently accompanies the ringside verdicts of boxing judges, the new format is likely to claim that its advent will deliver a greater level of objectivity, integrity and transparency to one of the world’s most popular sports.

Responding to an enquiry from Sky News, Mr Duval said: “STRIKR is a new format of boxing that uses world-class technology to generate real-time objective scoring.

“It will create a different approach to fighting, using a new format, enabled by new technology, to engage the existing audience and attract a new one, to the benefit of the market overall.”

Mr Duval declined to comment on the identity of the investors in discussions with STRIKR, although people close to the fundraising said it had already secured indicative commitments encompassing a sizeable chunk of the $50m target.

The company also refused to be drawn on further details of commercial partnership discussions ahead of Monday’s test event.

STRIKR fights are expected to be free to watch, including on digital platforms such as YouTube, and will incorporate features such as personalised shopping and loyalty-based premium content.

The arrival of STRIKR – which is expected to include its maiden competitive events in the UK and US next year – will come at a time when investor interest in combat sports has surged amid an influx of funding from sovereign funds and other prominent pools of capital.

An official launch of the new format is said to be planned for May, with a series of exhibition events to showcase the technology later this year.

TKO Group, which owns UFC and WWE, this month struck a deal with the Saudi General Entertainment Authority to create a new international boxing league.

The Saudi government has already sanctioned an enormous investment in the sport through the creation of the Riyadh Season to secure the hosting of some of boxing’s most lucrative fights, including December’s world heavyweight title rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, which was won by the Ukrainian.

The civil service is to be told to cut more than £2bn from its budget as part of the government’s spending review.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to unveil spending cuts during the spring statement next week – and has reportedly ruled out tax rises.

The FDA union has said the government needs to be honest about the move, first reported by The Telegraph, and the “impact it will have on public services”.

Civil service departments will first have to reduce administrative budgets by 10%, which is expected to save £1.5bn a year by 2028-29.

The following year, the reduction should be 15%, the Cabinet Office will say – a saving of £2.2bn a year.

Administrative budgets include human resources, policy advice and office management, rather than frontline services.

The chancellor has also said she won’t be putting up taxes on Wednesday, telling The Sun On Sunday: “This is not a budget. We’re not going to be doing tax raising.”

Ms Reeves added: “We did have to put up some taxes on businesses and the wealthiest in the country in the budget [in the autumn].

“We will not be doing that in the spring statement next week.”

The chancellor has repeatedly insisted she won’t drop her fiscal rules which preclude borrowing to fund day-to-day spending.

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Civil service departments will receive instructions from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden in the coming week, The Telegraph reported.

“To deliver our Plan for Change we will reshape the state so it is fit for the future. We cannot stick to business as usual,” a Cabinet Office source said.

“By cutting administrative costs we can target resources at frontline services – with more teachers in classrooms, extra hospital appointments and police back on the beat.”

The move comes after the government last week revealed welfare cuts it believes will save £5bn a year by the end of the decade.

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FDA general secretary Dave Penman said the union welcomed a move away from “crude headcount targets” but that the distinction between the back office and frontline is “artificial”.

“Elected governments are free to decide the size of the civil service they want, but cuts of this scale and speed will inevitably have an impact on what the civil service will be able to deliver for ministers and the country…

“The budgets being cut will, for many departments, involve the majority of their staff and the £1.5bn savings mentioned equates to nearly 10% of the salary bill for the entire civil service.”

Ministers need to set out what areas of work they are prepared to stop as part of spending plans, he said.

“The idea that cuts of this scale can be delivered by cutting HR and comms teams is for the birds. This plan will require ministers to be honest with the public and their civil servants about the impact this will have on public services.”

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Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect union, warned that “a cheaper civil service is not the same as a better civil service”.

“Prospect has consistently warned government against adopting arbitrary targets for civil service headcount cuts which are more about saving money than about genuine civil service reform.

“The government say they will not fall into this trap again. But this will require a proper assessment of what the civil service will and won’t do in future.”

Lawyers for Harrods are proposing six-figure payouts to settle claims brought by sexual abuse victims of the London department store’s former owner, Mohamed al Fayed.

Sky News has learnt that MPL Legal, which is coordinating a redress scheme on behalf of the world-famous retailer, has told potential claimants that they could be eligible for general damages lump sums of up to £110,000 or £200,000, depending upon claimants’ willingness to submit to a psychiatric assessment arranged by the company.

A document seen by Sky News suggests that victims of Mr al Fayed who choose a “non-medical pathway” would be eligible for “general damages limited to compensation for sexual assault of up to £110,000”, with “aggravated damages [of] up to £15,000”, and “wrongful testing fixed payment(s) up to £7,500”.

Claimants who agree to an assessment by a scheme consultant psychiatrist – referred to in the document as the “medical pathway” – would be eligible for general damages of up to £200,000, further payments equivalent to those potentially awarded to non-medical claimants, as well as treatment costs “past and future supported by the medical report” and a “work impact payment capped at £110,000”.

The “wrongful testing” payments refer to women who were forced to undergo unnecessary and intrusive medical examinations demanded by Mr al Fayed, while the “work impact payments” relate to loss of earnings triggered by, for example, the unjustified termination of victims’ employment at Harrods.

The draft terms raise the prospect that some of the former Harrods owner’s victims could receive payments of more than £300,000.

However, the decision to impose a further psychiatric assessment in order to access the largest sums available under the scheme may anger claimants who have already endured years of psychological trauma after being abused by Mr al Fayed.

Those who opt to pursue the “medical pathway” nevertheless face a protracted wait to receive their payouts.

The MLP document said it would take up to six months to produce a medical report, after which a claimant would have 21 days to submit questions relating to it.

An offer of compensation would then be made within 35 days, it said, after which a claimant could accept the offer, appeal to an Independent Appeals Panel or leave the scheme and pursue an alternative form of redress.

The proposed terms are understood to be preliminary and subject to ongoing consultation, and will not be concluded until the end of this month, according to sources close to the process.

If the scheme is finalised along lines similar to those being consulted on, it would likely result in a total compensation bill for Harrods running to tens of millions of pounds.

The final cost of compensating victims of a man now regarded as one of Britain’s most notorious sex offenders will, though, be unclear until the number of claimants and their decisions about which compensation route to pursue have been determined.

Responding to an enquiry from Sky News this weekend, a Harrods spokesperson said: “It would be premature for us to comment on the nature and details of a scheme that is currently under consultation.

“We are actively inviting the valuable input from Survivors and their legal representatives to establish the final scheme that aims to be survivor-first, trauma-informed, and fair in its approach to compensation.

“Further updates will be provided once the consultation period is complete.”

Details are, however, expected to be finalised in the coming days.

Read more: A timeline of al Fayed sex abuse claims

According to a document published on a website set up by MPL Legal for the purposes of administering the redress scheme, “Harrods and MPL Legal are undertaking a period of consultation regarding the compensation scheme in which we will receive detailed feedback from interested parties, including several legal firms representing survivors, leading Counsel and Dame Jasvinder [Sanghera], the Independent Survivor Advocate”.

“It is anticipated the final compensation scheme will be published and survivors will be able to access application forms from 31 March 2025.”

Mr al Fayed, who died in 2023, owned Harrods for 25 years, selling it in 2010 to Qatar Holding, one of the Gulf state’s sovereign wealth funds, for £1.5bn.

His reign of terror at the Knightsbridge store is thought to have involved hundreds of predominantly young female victims, with former Fulham women’s players also alleging sexual abuse by the billionaire Egyptian.

Mr al Fayed also owned Fulham Football Club for a number of years.

The MPL Legal document seen by Sky News said the redress scheme would “provide options for survivors – an alternative route to the court process”, and that it would “hopefully avoid an adversarial approach which also risks retraumatising survivors”.

It added that the scheme would be “as inclusive as possible – we want the scheme to work for as many survivors as we can”.

Under the heading “Scheme principles”, MPL said it represented “an alternative to litigation, but a survivor can leave the scheme at any time and pursue the claim through the court system”.

It said it hoped that law firms engaging with the scheme “will ensure survivors receive 100% of the compensation”.

“The level of compensation available through the scheme has been designed to mirror the court’s approach,” it added.

Read more:
‘I had to barricade myself in bedroom during work trip’, accuser says
Ex-flight attendant says she was sacked for refusing to sleep with al Fayed

It also said there were “certain classifications of cases which may not be suitable for the scheme, for example if a survivor wishes to claim a full loss of earnings”.

Last October, lawyers acting for victims of Mr al Fayed said they had received more than 420 enquiries about potential claims, although it is unclear how many more have come forward in the six months since.

In a section headed “Eligibility”, MPL Legal said Harrods “retains discretion to review eligibility on a case by case basis”.

The date of the MPL Legal document’s creation was unclear on Saturday, but one legal source said it had been produced “recently”.