ABSTRACT
Brazil is a country that is known globally for the quality and success of both its football and footballers. It is also, however, a country that is less well regarded for its business and management practices. This chapter explores and documents the relationship between the two areas. Football dominates Brazilian life and is central to twentieth century ideas of heritage and culture. Yet, football in Brazil is a complex creature and one which, particularly outside of Brazil, is not widely understood. The somewhat arcane structure of Brazilian domestic football sees three pyramid structures running simultaneously. These are: (1) national, (2) regional, and (3) state-level, with all being organised by different bodies. Money in Brazilian football is clearly concentrated at the top of the game. The money in Brazilian football is, however, not enough to keep players in the Brazilian leagues. In 2016, 678 footballers moved abroad. This is up 10 per cent on the previous year, and now Brazil has around 14,591 sportsmen working abroad. Many of these players moved for low transfer fees and around half of the transfers were made outside of the FIFA Transfer Management System (TMS). There are very real concerns that the poor management practices associated with Brazilian football will damage the standing and level of the game. This chapter seeks to document failings and to move the conversation towards better practices in the future.
