This study aimed to identify, describe and analyse the organisational structure of professional football clubs in Brazil.
This is a multiple case study that analysed 131 football clubs that participated in national professional and official football competitions in Brazil in 2019. Data were obtained from official documents and websites, and the information was evaluated by Content Analysis.
Of all 131 clubs analysed in this study, 122 were private, associative and non-profit entities, and 41 did not have an official website. Only 21 had an organisational chart on their official website, and most of them had a simple and limited structure, classified as simple structure or machine bureaucracy, and all of them had a relevant political structure. The absence of roles and departments recommended in the literature and required by football management/governing bodies was observed, such as security, fan and community relations, technology and innovation.
This study proposes seven management recommendations that, without high investments, can improve the organisational model and, in a broader sense, the management of professional football clubs in Brazil and other countries.
This study is innovative, as it describes and analyses the organisational structure of professional football clubs of different sizes and contexts, providing a comprehensive picture of the reality of football management in Brazil and allowing this reality to be compared with the international literature and the requirements of governing bodies.
