Communicating the Business of Football

The financial development of football in the last decade or so and the subsequent need for sound financial management have markedly increased interest in the financial affairs of football clubs and greater demands for financial accountability, both from football clubs’ stakeholders and from governing bodies. The expectations placed on football clubs are no longer of a purely sporting nature. Most significant of future developments is likely to be the implementation by national associations of UEFA’s Club Licensing System from season 2004/05.103 Initiated by UEFA in 1999, it sets out licensing criteria for clubs in five areas: sporting, infrastructure, personnel/administrative, legal and financial. The financial criteria include the following objectives: Improvement of the economic and financial capability of the clubs, increasing their transparency and credibility, and placing the necessary importance on the protection of creditors. Assuring that the clubs have an adequate level of management and expertise.