Football (soccer)

This article analyses 2500 responses from association football (soccer) fans to an anonymous online survey conducted from November 2011 to February 2012 that examined the extent of
racism in British football. Eighty-three per cent of the participants stated that racism remains culturally embedded and when exploring the reasons behind its continuation from the 1970s and 1980s, Bourdieu’s concepts of field and habitus proved useful for understanding why some white fans continue to express racist thoughts and behaviours at football. Central to this were explanations concerning class and education and how historical notions of whiteness remain culturally embedded for some supporters.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has attracted considerable interest in the management discipline, but has rarely been evaluated and explored in the sports management research arena. In evaluating the sports, management and marketing literature, this article considers the role of CSR in professional football. It argues that an increased awareness and integration of CSR into the football business fosters the competitiveness of the game and creates additional value for its stakeholders. The article proposes a conceptual model which outlines the agency role of football in order to create political, cultural, humanitarian and reassurance value. Empirical evidence supporting the model is applied based on case studies from four key countries that currently dominate the shaping of CSR discussion and are vital for the game itself: England, Germany, Japan and the US. The article’s aim is to encourage sports management to see CSR as an opportunity-driven concept, which can assist in achieving better strategic direction, and outlines areas where future research can improve sport management’s appreciation of this rapidly more important topic.

It has been suggested that when footballers take penalty kicks they generally focus on the goalkeeper, ignoring the target area. In experiment 1, we tested the implications of this strategy by constraining gaze centrally while asking participants to hit distal locations. When gaze was constrained, resultant shots became significantly centralised despite the participants striving to hit distal locations. In experiment 2, the gaze behaviour of kickers was analysed when taking penalty kicks with a goalkeeper present. Three distinct shooting strategies were identified and the most prominent strategy implemented was a ‘keeper-focused strategy. Individual analyses revealed that the utilisation of these strategies is highly variable within and between participants. However, better shooters used a target-focused approach more frequently, while the poorer shooters used a ‘keeper-focused strategy. Implications and future research directions are outlined

Football clubs are businesses that operate in a complex landscape of non-market, market and sport domains. Each with many actors, agendas not necessarily aligned with the best interests of all clubs, and forces that tend to promote competitive imbalance within the industry.

Using a sample of twelve (12) clubs in the “big-5” leagues of Europe, this paper:
a) Analyzes their revenue structure, revenue mix, diversification and bias;
b) Analyzes the monetization efficiency of a their fixed assets, player registration rights and brand equity;
c) Develops proxies for assets where net asset values do not exist or do not represent the revenue generating capacity of the asset;
d) Develops performance metrics and comparative frameworks so that each club can be compared and understood with respect to its peers.
e) Identifies possible industry patterns and benchmarks.

The primary threat to revenue continuity is represented by major and minor performance risk endemic to the industry. The analysis of revenue herein provides visibility into a club’s vulnerability to these risks.

Attending live sporting events is a popular leisure and entertainment activity in contemporary European societies, none more important than football (the sport Americans refer to as soccer). For example, according to Deloitte’s (2014) annual report about the football industry, the top 20 European clubs generated combined revenues of over €5.4 billion in 2012-13, including almost €1.2 billion in gate receipts. However, due to myriad aspects such as the difficult economic environment in many countries, the increased competition of other leisure/entertainment activities, the importance of selling broadcasting rights, and the development of new technologies, clubs now face the challenge of retaining and even increasing this high demand. In this sense, clubs need to look for the games as regular opportunities to strengthen the link with current and prospective spectators by providing memorable consumption and/or entertainment experiences that include more than just the competition between two teams on the field, court, ice, track, or better yet, the stage.

This paper (written in 2003) was one of the first studies to critically look at the governance relationships in European football. We analysed the way a sport governing body responds to the pressures of a lobby group through the example of UEFA and G-14 and proposed a recommendation for the better cooperate and governance of European football. Based on stakeholder analysis – national associations, national leagues, the whole spectrum of clubs, G-14 and UEFA - we identified the divergent perspectives in areas such as competition, revenue sharing or representation and compared different cases of stakeholder management across several sports. At the time in 2003, G-14 and UEFA had tried to promote their own interests, but in the end alienating their counterparts and failing to conclude a satisfactory compromise. We argued that the situation would likely to recur over and over within the current framework of European football since clubs which were (and largely still are) the fundamental cells of European football, did not have any executive power within UEFA’s decision-taking scheme although they generated most of UEFA’s income every year. Based on this paradox, we elaborated a new model of organisation for European football with a particular focus on the way professional football – at club and national level – is managed within UEFA. The model we presented here was not only the fruit of our analysis of European football’s current difficulties but also an emanation of our understanding of the methods of conflict resolution that were applied in other sports such as cycling that showed to be quite successful. The success of such a model depends on a proactive attitude from the governing bodies and positive feedback from the other stakeholders. Thus, no matter how successful the new organisational model could be, all stakeholders need first to perceive the utility of implementing such a reform and agree on the steps to be taken toward its implementation.

El evento del fútbol ha sido empleado en la historia por los gobernantes a fin de mantener el orden establecido escenificando una unión y paz social a través de los éxitos de los clubes de fútbol y sobre todo de los equipos nacionales. En España, el franquismo trató así de
culminar la unión nacional y erigir la legitimidad mayoritaria con la dictadura. No obstante, en la década de 1960 los graderíos de los estadios se convirtieron en los precursores de las expresiones colectivas en el estado que se oponían al franquismo. El régimen, por consiguiente, no había logrado culminar el cometido que había asignado al fútbol.

Habiendo traspasado el umbral del siglo XXI, la selección española de fútbol se adentró en un ciclo victorioso inédito que aglutinó la victoria en la Eurocopa de 2008, el Mundial de 2010 y la Eurocopa de 2012 consecutivamente. La consecución deportiva ayudó a la regeneración simbólica de la identidad nacional española y a extender el patriotismo de una manera positiva. Por otra parte, en 2009, Valencia albergó la final de la Copa del Rey entre Athletic y Barcelona, donde aficionados vascos y catalanes abuchearon mayoritariamente al rey y a la exposición del himno español en la previa del partido.

El estudio realizado basado en la tesis doctoral finalizada por el autor pretende resaltar el espacio de conflicto ideado en España en el marco del evento del fútbol que transciende
la utilización de los gobiernos y supera la existencia de la crisis económica.

In this article a sociological diagnosis of football hooliganism as a world phenomenon is given. The author uses mainly English (newspaper) data about football violence (in and outside Britain) as an empirical base to explore how hooliganism can be
theorised and understood. These data can usefully serve as a rough indication of the worldwide incidence of football hooliganism in the twentieth century. The author favours
the figurational/process-sociological approach to football hooliganism which is historical and developmental. It also involves an exploration of the meanings of hooligan behaviour
via an analysis of verbatim statements by the hooligans themselves, locates the football hooligans in the overall social structure, especially the class system, and examines the dynamics of the relationship between them and groups in the wider society. It is important, nevertheless, to stress that it is unlikely that the phenomenon of football hooliganism will be found always and everywhere to stem from identical social roots. As a basis for further, cross-national research, it is reasonable to hypothesise that the problem is fuelled and contoured by, among other things, what one might call the major fault-lines’ of particular countries. Effective policies are urgently needed if the great social invention of football is to be protected from the serious threat posed by a combination of hooligan fans, complacent politicians and money-grabbing owners, managers and players.

El presente artículo trata sobre la planificación general de una pretemporada para porteros de fútbol profesional de la liga adelante en 2ª división. Se exponen en primer lugar lo que entendemos por planificación y de su necesidad para llevar a cabo un trabajo adecuado y ordenado. En una segunda parte nos centramos en la planificación con un análisis previo del club, cuerpo técnico, objetivos, materiales… de los que vamos a disponer a lo largo de la temporada y que nos van a marcar las líneas generales de trabajo. Por último y para terminar, se describe pretemporada por semanas con los elementos principales a trabajar, terminando con la secuenciación de los contenidos por semanas y por sesiones llevados a cabo en la pretemporada. Por lo tanto pretendemos mostrar el trabajo realizado en su fase preactiva de la planificación, dentro del campo profesional y más concretamente en los porteros.

This article draws on the responses of 1,500 fans from across the United Kingdom to an online survey posted from August 2013 to November 2013 regarding their experience of football violence. Reflecting the 2013 Home Office report that indicated a continued long-term decline of football fan violence in England and Wales, 89% of fans illustrate a decrease in violent behavior from the 1980s with 56% indicating this is due to better policing, 56% attributing it to improvements in stadia, 50% highlighting the deterrence provided by CCTV, and 49% ascribing it to a civilized supporter base. Overall, fans reflect on a more sanitized and gentrified culture emerging out of measures introduced since the 1990s (including changing police strategies, banning orders, alcohol bans, higher ticket prices, and CCTV).

El fútbol más allá de un simple deporte o entretenimiento, representa un espacio organizado desde el género: un espacio que da raíz y ayuda a mantener la masculini- dad. Esto desde una idea generalizada de este deporte. Pero en espacios como la Liga Parroquial de La Floresta en la ciudad de Quito, intervienen otros factores: la presen- cia de mujeres futbolistas, el fútbol practicado desde distintos cuerpos y una forma particular de dividir los distintos grupos practicantes del fútbol. Haciendo uso de la observación y entrevistas, la investigación que da raíz a este artículo se enfocó en el componente performativo del fútbol y en la narrativa que este nos regala. Partiendo fuera de vínculos estrictos y binarismos existentes, fue posible concluir que el juego no solo permite ampliar la discusión sobre el lugar del género en el fútbol, sino que cuestionar el género como principio organizador.

Does soccer explain the world? Or does the world explain soccer? Is soccer a cause of global integration? Or does it result from global integration? These questions animate a number of recent popular books on soccer. In order to answer, I first distinguish between political, economic, and cultural globalization. I then define the nature of “play.” Analyzing recent literature from the perspectives of the globalization of politics, economics, and culture, I conclude that the game follows globalization trends more than it causes them in the realms of politics and economics. However, in the cultural realm, the global game’s culture of play unites disparate cultures around the globe. Soccer may not bring world peace or move global markets, but it does bring people together under the “sign of play.”

Salary caps have been part of U.S. professional sports for a long time. Salary caps can be designed in different ways and the term is used here broadly to include all measures that limit how much money a team can spend on player salaries. With the exception of three rugby leagues, salary caps do not exist in European professional sports. This will change in 2012 when UEFA’s recently revealed Financial Fair Play rules (FFP-rules) become applicable to all of European football. The FFP-rules contain a number of quite technical requirements but its core is the ”break-even requirement” according to which professional football clubs will be denied a UEFA competition licence if their expenses exceeds their incomes. Unlike most current salary caps, the FFP-rules do not stipulate a fixed maximum payroll that is the same for all teams. Nevertheless, the rules still limit how much money a team can spend on player salaries. The paper will examine whether the FFP-rules are compatible with European Union law. The paper argues that the FFP–rules raise antitrust law issues as well as free movement issues. Consequently, the compatibility of the rules with European Union law turns on whether they can be justified. This, in turn, depends on whether it can be shown that they are proper and neccessary to achieve an overriding interest. The paper concludes that this is highly questionable.

El uso de la tecnología para apoyar el arbitraje no es algo nuevo. Ya ha sido inventada. Otros deportes, tanto individuales como el tenis, o colectivos como el Football americano, Baloncesto, Rugby o Balonmano, Béisbol, Hockey sobre hielo o Voleibol vienen utilizándola desde hace años.
Tanto el IFAB como la FIFA están intentando utilizar la tecnología de las retransmisiones deportivas para aplicarla en el arbitraje y realizar una contribución en el fútbol de manera que se pueda reducir el impacto de los errores arbitrales y mejorar, como consecuencia, la justicia deportiva. Sin embargo, la innovación no surge de la noche a la mañana, y la implantación del VAR (Video Assistant Referee) no estará exenta de dificultades. Y es que la innovación no sigue un camino claro, ordenado y de éxito, sino que la innovación no se entiende sin fracaso y sin incertidumbre.

O presente relatório foi efectuado na equipa do Clube Atlético Riachense (seguidamente descrita pela sigla CAR), ao longo da época desportiva 2014/2015, dentro de um contexto de futebol amador que tinha por competições o Campeonato Nacional de Seniores – Série F e a Taça de Portugal.
O relatório tem como objectivo principal a concretização de uma rigorosa e profunda análise ao processo de treino da equipa, discriminando os métodos de treino utilizados numa relação de proximidade constante com o modelo de jogo adoptado pela equipa, bem como a periodização para a época desportiva em causa e a análise do processo competitivo. Neste sentido para além da apresentação quantitativa dos resultados obtidos, sob a forma de percentagens relativas, existirá também uma preocupação em fundamentar o trabalho realizado, em função dos períodos de trabalho planeados, reflectindo sobre os conteúdos abordados na revisão da literatura efectuada assim com o seu enquadramento no contexto de actuação específico que caracterizou este grupo de trabalho ao longo da época desportiva. Deste modo, pretende-se perceber quais os métodos de treino predominantes, quais os principais factores que contribuem para essa predominância relativa, que elementos inerentes ao funcionamento normal de uma equipa de futebol são mais influentes numa possível alteração circunstancial da metodologia de treino adoptada e de que forma se pode contrariar possíveis problemas, utilizando e explorando as vastas virtudes conceptuais que os métodos de treino nos oferecem.
Na análise da dimensão horizontal os Métodos Específicos de Preparação são os métodos com mais percentagem de utilização com 50%, seguido dos Métodos de Preparação Geral com 31% e por último os Métodos Específicos de Preparação Geral com 19%.
No que diz respeito à dimensão vertical os Métodos de Preparação Geral são os métodos mais utilizados apresentando uma percentagem de 31%, de seguida temos os exercícios Competitivos com 29% e por fim os exercícios de manutenção da posse de bola com 13%.

Sport specificity has become a term where the word specificity is often misunderstood by professionals in athletics. Training methods that are based on simulation can deviate from sound training principles and distort the true nature of goal-oriented training, in regard to sport. The objective of this article is to provide insight on the interactions between strength, power, speed, and agility for soccer players, examine the scientific evidence on improving athletic performance, and provide basic programming guidelines that adhere to current research and anecdotal experiences.

We identified the perceptual–cognitive skills and player history variables that differentiate players selected or not selected into an elite youth football (i.e. soccer) programme in Australia. A sample of elite youth male football players (n = 127) completed an adapted participation history questionnaire and video-based assessments of perceptual–cognitive skills. Following data collection, 22 of these players were offered a full-time scholarship for enrolment at an elite player residential programme. Participants selected for the scholarship programme recorded superior performance on the combined perceptual–cognitive skills tests compared to the non-selected group. There were no significant between group differences on the player history variables. Stepwise discriminant function analysis identified four predictor variables that resulted in the best categorization of selected and non-selected players (i.e. recent match-play performance, region, number of other sports participated, combined perceptual–cognitive performance). The effectiveness of the discriminant function is reflected by 93.7% of players being correctly classified, with the four variables accounting for 57.6% of the variance. Our discriminating model for selection may provide a greater understanding of the factors that influence elite youth talent selection and identification.

This research aims to examine football fans’ awareness of their team sponsors and to compare sponsorship awareness  between season ticket holders and casual spectators. Data was collected from among fans of a professional football team and results revealed that spectators recall ‘top of mind’ those sponsors with their logo displayed on the team shirts. Thus, being visible from the stadium stands is important to ensure recall rates. Fans are typically able to properly recognise sponsors and non-sponsors of their team. However, some competitor brands engaged in football sponsorship are incorrectly recognised as sponsors of a team. Finally, the number of brands recalled and recognised correctly by season ticket holders is significantly higher than for casual spectators. The research findings, managerial implications, limitations and future research directions are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to assess brand equity in professional soccer teams. Through a preliminary analysis and further adaptation of the Spectator-Based Brand Equity (SBBE) scale, a refined model was tested among soccer fans. Results gathered from a confirmatory factor analysis indicated an acceptable fit of the model to the data and confirmed the relationship between Internalization, a single first-order construct, and Brand Associations, a second-order construct with ten dimensions. Review of the psychometric properties indicated all constructs had good internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. A multi-group analysis showed the cross validity of the model, and a structural equation model revealed its predictive validity, indicating the proposed model as a valid tool for assessing brand equity in professional soccer teams. Managerial implications of these results are discussed, and some guidelines are suggested for future research.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia was another demonstration in how sports and politics mix. In protest of Russian politics, few leaders from Western countries attended. For this World Cup, public resources were misused in that half of the stadiums built in Russia were left as “white elephants” with no long- term use. The tournament in Russia marked a shift from the West to the East with sponsors from authoritarian countries having saved the business model of FIFA. The policy of fining misconduct during the World Cup showed FIFA’s commitment to protect its remaining sponsors while proclaimed values, such as fighting racism, were of minor importance. The case of Iranian women using the opportunity not only to attend their national team’s games in Russia but also to advocate for the right of women to enter stadiums in Iran showed that football can also be an agent for social change. In two countries (Germany, United States), World Cup matches hosted female commentators on television for the first time. In Belgium, players operated largely above the Flemish-Walloon divide. The article concludes by comparing the last World Cup in Russia with the next one in Qatar and identifying topics for future research.

This article focuses on the role of the media in the processes of diffusion, maintenance, and undermining of corruption in sports, particularly soccer. Drawing chiefly on various illustrative examples of several recent cases of corruption and the existing academic literature on the topic, the article demonstrates how the media function as both an enemy and a facilitator of corruption in sports. Both micro- and macrosocial analytical dimensions for potential future research on the relationship between the media and corruption are proposed and discussed.

Discussions about ‘athlete-centered’ coaching and ‘coach-centered’ coach education have started to gain increasing popularity in the field of coaching science. While it has been suggested that these ‘learner-centered’ approaches arguably align with the theoretical ideals of humanistic psychology, an in-depth examination of the implications of this learning orientation to sports coaching remains elusive. Rather, discussions have tended to be detached from theory, focusing instead on practices and methods. In light of this development, the present paper provides a detailed and critical overview of one of the leading humanistic thinkers’ work, namely Carl Rogers, in order to consider what implications his theorising about ‘person-centered’ learning could have for the development of athletes and coaches. In doing so, we hope that this article will serve to advance understanding and theoretically underpin what have tended to be largely a-theoretical and superficial discussions about ‘athlete-centered’ coaching and ‘coach-centered’ coach education.

This paper discusses the role of football stadia in the built environment in Britain, focusing on how stadia have been used as an architectural device to facilitate certain emotional, social, economic and cultural needs. Four themes of: identity, class, technology and economy have also been identified as major
factors that have shaped stadia’s role in the built environment during this period up until today and these will be focused on throughout. Firstly the paper discusses the history of the sport outlining its influence on society and how football culture has grown. This will be used as a platform to explain the reasoning
of certain architectural methods that have been applied to stadia design in the UK and how stadia’s role has developed over time linking back to the identified themes. Following this, the paper looks how emotions exhibited in and around stadia have facilitated a ‘love of place’ creating strong links with
identity. Next, a discussion of significant stadium disasters, a result of prioritising economic motives, outlines how change in the stadia’s role has lead to physical change and subsequent reform showing how technology was at fault, but is now allowing technical innovations that positively impact stadia’s on the built environment. Finally, the paper looks at the financial incentives surrounding stadia, analysing the impact this can have on its surrounding community and local economy, looking at the influence of iconic design, housing prices and spending in the economy. The paper concludes, warning that in observation
of financial motives beginning to take precedence, resulting in a change in class demographic, cultural identity attached to stadia is at risk of being lost and that above all, safety should remain a top priority to avoid a repetition of past tragedies.
Key Words: Architecture, role, identity, class, technology, economy, environment, society, safety, topophilia, emotion, community

In the recent years, the football industry has highly been
globalized and football clubs have begun to be transformed into
global corporate companies as creating and implementing
international strategies in overseas territories especially in Asia and
US. Although these markets have already been dominated by
leading European Football Clubs, there are still many lucrative
opportunities for other football clubs. In this paper, top four European
football clubs’ Asia and US market entry modes and strategies;
Barcelona FC, Paris Saint Germain, Manchester United and Bayern
Munich, are deeply and comparatively analysed. Following of given
comparative analysis, recommendations which might be helpful for
the football clubs which have not any global strategy or which are
already in planning step will be explained

Purpose - This research contributes to knowledge on the issues and benefits associated with managing brand presence and relationships through social media. UK football clubs are big businesses, with committed communities of fans, so are an ideal context from which to develop an understanding of the issues and challenges facing organisations as they seek to protect and promote their brand online.

Design/methodology/approach - Owing to the emergent nature of social media, and the criticality of the relationships between clubs and their fans, an exploratory study using a multiple case study approach was used to gather rich insights into the phenomenon, from the club perspective.

Findings - Clubs agreed that further development of social media strategies had potential to deliver interaction and engagement, community growth and belonging, traffic flow to official websites, and commercial gain. However, in developing their social media strategies they had two key concerns. The first concerned the control of the brand presence and image in social media, and how to respond to the opportunities that social media present to fans to impact on the brand. The second concern was how to strike an appropriate balance between strategies that deliver short term revenue, and those that build longer term brand loyalty.

Originality/value - This research is the first to offer insights into the issues facing organisations when developing their social media strategy.

"There has been little research into the psychological factors affecting footballers at different levels (Hanin et al, 2000), in particular, the mental toughness and hardiness of footballers.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between mental toughness and hardiness of footballers and the level of football at which they perform.


Participants - 61 footballers (mean AGE=25.23 years; range 18-40 years; SD=5.55), from various clubs and 2 levels of performance.
Mental toughness was measured using the Psychological Performance Inventory (PPI; Loehr, 1986).
Hardiness was measured using the Personal views survey III- R (Maddi and Khoshaba 2001).


Elite footballers scored significantly higher than recreational footballers in overall mental toughness, hardiness and each individual subscale, (Golby & Sheard, 2004).
While the present study confirms that elite footballers have superior levels of mental toughness and hardiness than recreational footballers, future research might concentrate further on psychological skills training, coping strategies and psychological preparation strategies in a wider variation of sports specific to a wider range of athletes, from grass roots to international level."

Ketika bicara tentang hooliganisme, maka selalu diidentikkan dengan kekerasan yang dilakukan oleh suporter sepakbola. Apakah semua suporter sepakbola itu hooligan? Mengapa bisa  muncul kekerasan? Bagaimana proses kekerasan itu muncul? Hmm..masih banyak hal lain yang awalnya membuat kita bertanya-tanya, setelah membaca buku ini maka akan menjadi bergumam tersirat paham terkait permasalahan holiganisme. Hal ini dikarenakan dalam buku menjelaskan konsepsi football hooliganism secara utuh yang disertai pula dengan gambaran permasalahan yang terjadi di berbagai belahan dunia.

Los campeonatos nacionales de fútbol profesional
suponen una actividad económica de gran impacto que mueve miles de millones de euros anualmente, y por tanto, contribuyen de forma significativa al producto interior bruto del país. Además, suponen un importante yacimiento de empleo para miles de personas actuando como elemento dinamizador de la economía.