The UEFA Champions League : maintaining the status quo?

PLUMLEY, Daniel James and FLINT, Stuart (2015). The UEFA Champions League : maintaining the status quo? Team Performance Management, 21 (5/6), 247-258.

This is the latest version of this item.

[img]
Preview
PDF
UEFA_CB_Paper.pdf - Accepted Version
All rights reserved.

Download (316kB) | Preview
Official URL: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/10.1108/TPM-01-2...
Link to published version:: https://doi.org/10.1108/TPM-01-2015-0003

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of the paper was to examine the competitive balance of the UEFA Champions League group stages. There are numerous financial and commercial benefits to clubs that participate in this competition. The current paper examines if the seeding system operated by UEFA is hindering some lower ranked teams from qualification and thus the associated benefits.

Design/Methodology/Approach - Data was collected for all UEFA Champions League group stages between1999/2000 and 2013/2014. Data analysis techniques included Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) to examine competitive balance and one way ANOVAs to examine the impact of the current seeding system on club performance.

Findings - The findings suggest that there are flaws in the ranking and seeding system used by UEFA as results show that the competition is competitively imbalanced at the group stage. Additionally, clubs that are continually placed in the highest seeding pot historically tend to accumulate more points and finish in a higher position in the group thus giving them a better opportunity to progress further in the competition.

Research Limitations/Implications - The study has implications for both the clubs competing in the Champions League, who will be affected by the seeding system and UEFA themselves when considering the sporting integrity of their flagship competition.

Originality/Value - To our knowledge this is the first paper of its kind to examine competitive balance in this competition and the paper contributes new knowledge that extends the research undertaken in the field previously.

Item Type: Article
Research Institute, Centre or Group - Does NOT include content added after October 2018: Sport Industry Research Centre
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1108/TPM-01-2015-0003
Page Range: 247-258
Depositing User: Dan Plumley
Date Deposited: 02 Oct 2015 08:51
Last Modified: 18 Mar 2021 04:22
URI: https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/10808

Available Versions of this Item

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics