MATHEMATICAL MODELING IN FOOTBALL MANAGEMENT: A LITERATURE REVIEW BASED ON THE SNOWBALL METHODOLOGY

Abstract

Contemporary football has consolidated itself as a highly complex industry, requiring a transition from passionate amateurism to highly professionalized corporate management. In this context, the use of quantitative tools becomes fundamental to support decision-making. The present study aims to locate relevant research and identify the main academic productions that discuss the application of mathematical modeling in football management. To this end, a literature review was conducted based on the Snowball methodology, which started from a base article and, after the search and rigorous filtering criteria, resulted in a final bibliographic portfolio of six articles. Next, a systemic analysis was applied to classify the sample regarding the approach, main method, focus, and data sources. The results indicate a predominance of quantitative studies anchored in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), mainly focused on measuring the sporting and financial efficiency of clubs from the cross-referencing of accounting balance sheets and official championship statistics. It is concluded that, although mathematical modeling is widely used to diagnose financial efficiency and on-field performance, there is a notable scarcity of studies focused on resource allocation and tournament optimization. The study contributes by synthesizing the state of the art and providing a clear direction for filling these gaps in future research