SPO102: Football Governance - Practices, Sectors, and Industry Impact

This report provides an overview of football governance, focusing on governance practices and processes at different levels of the football industry, with specific examples from FC Barcelona and Manchester United F.C. It identifies key organizational sectors, including non-profit and commercial sectors, and evaluates their impacts on required governance structures. The report also discusses the role of government bodies in enhancing the football industry and explores how both non-profit and commercial sectors contribute to the sport's development. The analysis emphasizes the importance of strong governance for maintaining stakeholder trust and ensuring the long-term success of football clubs.

Football Governance
SPO102-2

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................4
Evaluate governance practices and processes at the different levels of the football industry.....4
Identify the key organizational sectors in the football industry and evaluate their impacts on the
required governance structures...................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
Football plays a main role in conveying the fundamental values and the game is one of the
popular ball games which comprises various participants. The game comprises various sets of rules
and is managed by the governing body which is Fédération Internationale de Football Association(
FIFA). The report will outline the governance practices and their processes in the context of various
levels in the football industry. Concerning the report there are two companies will be considered FC
Barcelona and Manchester United F.C. The first company is FC Barcelona is said to be a
professional football club which is based in Spain. It was founded in the year of 1899 by Joan
Gamper with footballers of Spanish, German, and Swiss. The other company is Manchester United
F.C. which is also a professional football club and is one of the world's most popular football clubs.
The main competition is with Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, and Leeds United. Also, it is the
world's highest-earning football club. In addition to this, the report will also demonstrate the key
organizational sectors and also with its impact on the required governance structures.
Main Body
Evaluate governance practices and processes at the different levels of the football industry.
Football is a major industry and it is said to be the effective and essential medium for
communicating main principles. Also, all the levels of football organizations should prioritize both
protecting young players and promoting gender equality. In addition to this, accountability has
become common recently as it is defined as the obligation to offer an account. There are various
ways which are used to support the above-mentioned two football club’s internal communication.
For instance, online chat, web conferencing, email and many other football employees can also
make use of the information communication systems such as online chat and instant message
functionalities. In order to communicate text-based messages with each other through personal
computers or other devices. On the other hand, email information system is linkled with various
tasks such as forwarding, delivering, and storing correspondence and receiving. For the governance
practices, the management can also use an information system for the purpose of assisting in
making the best decisions concerning funding and controlling. The term corporate governance is
defined as the set of rules and policies by which the companies are regulated and directed. That is
why, the government, consumers, suppliers, financiers, shareholders, and senior management are
considered as part of all stakeholders in corporate governance. Concerning the football industry, it
takes time to implement to practices of the company as it is a constant process. This governance is
essential, it allows to preserve the confidence and trust of the stakeholders in the clubs. As
stakeholders are said to be a strong base that tends to provide various benefits for the companies.
These benefits are one of the valuable attributes for the football clubs which should be maintained

effectively. Along with it, such rules allow the companies to adapt to the changing environment that
is external one as the businesses are to survive and generate profit both in the market for the
purpose of achieving and fulfilling the mission and vision of the companies. It can also be outlined
that governance refers to the actions for guiding, controlling, and holding organizations responsible.
It also encompasses an organization's authority, answer-ability, management, way, and control.
Governance is important as it allows for the application of strong governance thoughts and practices
all over the organization. On top of that, all levels of the football clubs must contribute to and
support the accomplishment of the targets, goals, and long-term success with better performance.
Hence, with the help of frameworks of governance, the companies can present a better performance
with proper planning, implementation, and monitoring. The government of various countries has
adopted and conduct various football programs with the aim of increasing participation of children,
youth, veterans and many other entities present in their region. Through this they try to enhance the
sensual and mental health of the people in the local community, develop various new job chance for
the general public and personal development opportunities for all the people. Football is one of the
biggest game which can bring diverse group together due to this the government has take the use of
these sport in order to achieve all their aims and goals. The government use various social media
sites, collaboration with the famous sports person that can highly influence the pubic to take more
part in the sports program. Hence, it will encourage the people to play more football that can highly
impact on various professional level. Government has set various goals and aims to enhance the
livelihood of the public and they have design various plan of action in order to achieve that target.
Identify the key organizational sectors in the football industry and evaluate their impacts on the
required governance structures.
The key organizational sectors in the football industry:-
Two types of categories are contributing to the sports industry.
The Non-profit sector
This is the first category that includes government companies, legal authorities and various
higher departments. This sector is made up by the people and for the people because of this it is
named as non profit sector. The general non profit are responsible for electing the appropriate
government which can enhance their livelihood. After this, the main duty of elected officials are to
create units which will give the best services to the residents of a town, region etc. F.C Barcelona is
a non profit sector companies which is founded by group of Spanish, German and English
footballers in order to attain high amount of profit. Because it a non profit sector company the
federal government of their country provides high amount of monetary funds to their organisation.
The state government of Barcelona, Spain also provides various benefits to the company such as

effective policy departments, legal support and many other factor. It is one of the richest football
club present across the world as their net revenue in more than 631 million euros. In their
surroundings the regional government provides various supports such as organizing major games
and sports events in their country by this it can enhance their business and more revenue can
generate. They also provide fund support and allow them to easily conduct their business operation
as the company have multiple liability which can help them in numerous way. The company also
gets the best sports equipments for their player by the government which can enhance their skills
and abilities. They have the complete broadcasting rights to convey appropriate and correct
information regarding their club. This is the non profit sporting club owned by the various
members and it is not a private limited company. In effect, FC Barcelona is a cultural as well as
sporting institution which enjoys a wider political significance in Catalan society; it is indeed more
than just a football club, and certainly very different from a North American sports entertainment
franchise. The below mentioned points are related to the FC Barcelona:-
 The prioritization of sporting success, with the playing and football management team
rebuilt and refinanced with positive results. FC Barcelona won successive Spanish La Liga
titles in 2005 and 2006, in addition to this they also win Europe’s premier club competition,
the Champions League, in 2006 and again in 2009.
 The reassertion of member democracy and improvements in transparency of club
governance, and the establishment of a campaign – ‘The Big Challenge’ – to increase club
membership as a vehicle to build the financial strength of the club.
 The implementation of a commercial strategy designed to generate increased revenues from
off-field activities and improve financial performance. Between 2003 and 2008, financial
turnover increased from €123.4m to €308.8m,7 indicating that the strategy had enjoyed
some success and had not been impeded by FC Barcelona’s mutual ownership structure.
 In arrangement with an aggressive commercial strategy, the implementation of an innovative
series of corporate social responsibility initiatives as part of a carefully crafted strategy
designed to demonstrate that it is indeed an institution that explicitly recognises a set of
wider social and cultural obligations.
The Commercial sector:-
The commercial sector includes those kind of organisation whose main aim or objective is to
earn profit by doing business operations. Many football sports organisation are present in this sector
in which Manchester united is one of the leading football sports club in their industry. The
management of Manchester united have several business operation such as sport franchise, leagues
and other sports events in their country. They get the fund from various big brands by sponsor and

endorse their brand in their matches. The management of this company manufacture various sports
equipments, sportswear and shoes which generates big share of revenue in their company. It is one
of the largest football club and they have the largest fan base present across the globe. They are
hosting various sports programs in their city that enhance their popularity which can enlarge their
revenue. The main focus of central government is to capture the large customer base by conducting
various sports events across the globe. The important function of the sports organisation present in
commercial sector is to provide sports products and services to the population. As it is a biggest
football club they also contribute in the national economy of their country because the management
of this club pays large amount of tax on the sales made by them through selling the products and
services. The administration of this company follows premium pricing strategy for their products
because they manufacture and offer high quality and valuable products or services to their
customers. Manchester united also take the help of various big celebrities to promote their brand
and sponsor big events in their country. They also provide high quality of sports training for the
people present in their country. They have collaborated with various non-profit organisation to do
charity on a large level. Through this multiple organisation with different objectives works together
to grow the football industry.
Conclusion
From the above report it has been concluded that, the government body plays the crucial role in
order to enhance the football industry. The two chosen organisation in this report are FC Barcelona
and Manchester United which are one of the largest football club present in the world. Furthermore,
the government practices and process in relation to the different stages of football sector are
included in this report. At last, the key organisational sector of football industry are included in this
report. Non profit and commercial sector in context to both the companies are been summarized in
this report.

References
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Online
Operating revenue of FC Barcelona from 2010/2011 to 2020/2021 [2021] Online,
<https://www.statista.com/statistics/282736/revenue-of-fc-barcelona/#:~:text=The%20operating
%20revenue%20of%20FC,euros%20since%20the%20mid%2D2010s.>