Budgetary process in football clubs

Abstract

The goal of the study was to describe the budgetary process used in three Brazilian soccer clubs. The research was characterized as descriptive, carried out through a multiple case with a qualitative approach. The data collection was done through an open questions form sent to the person responsible for the budget process and the documents of the clubs made available in their social media. As a result, the findings indicate that the adoption of the budget has not been motivated internally by the clubs, but by the Brazilian Football Confederation. This may be detrimental to the achievement of efficiency in budget execution. It was also found, according to the study’s propositions, that the budget is not tied to a reward system by those responsible for achieving the goals, which are periodically reviewed in all the clubs surveyed. In addition, an important factor observed is that the clubs that established the possibility of revising the goals, inserted a limit of variation of revenues and expenses, which makes it impossible to make significant changes in the budget. The contribution of this study is to discuss the role of the budget process in football clubs, in which professionalization is important as public resources are directed to subsidize financial equilibrium. In this context, efficient financial management involves the elaboration, execution and budgetary evaluation, which can lead to the achievement of the various purposes of the budget.