The Good Governance Index for the Asian Professional Football Industry.

The purpose of this thesis is to develop a novel framework using a combination of publicly available variables to measure governance in professional football clubs. Previous literature on the topic indicates that the choice of variables used to measure performance holistically of professional sports teams has been arbitrary. Subsequently, this thesis advances the field by scientifically integrating variables to develop a new model for assessing governance in professional team sports. The model was produced using statistical analysis techniques to ensure that the correct variables were included and weighting factors on each variable using sentiment analysis added a further robustness to the model. The model is also timely in relation to the growth of football in Asia as countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and India look to catch up to global standards through rapid expansion of the game using private equity investments. The model has significant implications for the management of football clubs, highlighting the necessity for clubs to uphold governance standards and achieve optimal performance both on and off the pitch. The thesis concluded a number of findings in relation to professional football in three Asian countries since 2014/15. First, the qualitative interviews investigating stakeholder perceptions on governance in Asian football highlighted different priorities for India, Japan and Australia, as these countries are in different stages of their development in relation to professional football. Second, the longitudinal analysis suggested that clubs who follow a utility maximisation principle are likely to return better governance scores than clubs who follow a profit maximisation principle. Third, there is evidence to suggest that overall governance of a club is likely to vary in periods as the ownership group managing these clubs pursue diverse objectives. The main contribution to knowledge of this thesis is the development of the model. The use of sentiment analysis to develop weighting factors is a contribution of the thesis as previous studies in this field have not incorporated stakeholder perceptions while developing weights. Moreover, there is no academic literature providing a definitive structure or guidelines on the rationale for weighting factors, particularly regarding the assignment of weights, and this thesis can be treated as a starting point to develop a framework to determine weighting factors. The thesis has significant implications for the management of football clubs. Clubs can utilise the GGI to benchmark their governance against that of their closest competitors. The GGI offers a comprehensive measure of overall governance by combining various variables, and clubs can use it alongside regulations established by national and international sport governing bodies. Furthermore, the model and its uses are not exclusively limited to a particular country or sport, which allows for replication of the model.