Gross national income, football workers and national football team performances: A logistic regression analysis

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims to examine the association between national economic prosperity (measured by per capita gross national income – GNI) and the acquisition of football workers (indicated by number of amateur footballers, football officials and professional footballers) and predict football performances (specified by qualifications at continental football championships) based on per capita GNI and football workers. Design/methodology/approach – Archival data of 203 national football teams were utilized based on continental football championship records before 2014. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to build various models to ascertain their predictive values. Economically prosperous nations are those with a per capita GNI of more than US$10,000, and unprosperous nations are those with per capita GNI of less than US$10,000. Findings – The analysis indicated that per capita GNI was significantly and positively associated with the acquisition of football workers – but not predictive of footb...