152 Indonesian Journal of Sport Management Original Article Influence of Management Structure on Performance of Kwara United Football Club in Nigeria Premier League Authors’ contribution: A. Conception and design of the study B. Acquisition of data C. Analysis and interpretation of data D. Manuscript preparation E. Obtaining funding Article History: Received: July16, 2022 Revision: September 21, 2022 Accepted: October 1, 2022 Published: October 25, 2022 Ajadi Memunat Tunrayo1A-D* 1*Department of Human Kinetics Education, Faculty of Education, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. Corresponding author: Ajadi Memunat Tunrayo, Department of Human Kinetics Education, Faculty of Education, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria; E-mail: mtajadi2014@gmail.com How to Cite: Tunrayo, A. M. (2022). Influence of Management Structure on Performance of Kwara United Football Club in Nigeria Premier League. Indonesian Journal of Sport Management, 2(2), 152- 158. https://doi.org/10.31949/ijsm.v2i2.2932 Abstract. The study investigated influence of management structure on performance of Kwara United football club in Nigeria premier league. Descriptive research design of survey type was used. The population comprised of all coaches, management staff and players of kwara united. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 115 respondents. Researcher structure questionnaire was adopted for the study. The instrument was validated by experts and tested for reliability using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). Correlation coefficient of 0.68 was obtained. The administrator of instrument was done by the researcher and three trained research assistants. The data collected were analysis using inferential statistics of chi-square (x2) to test the formulated hypotheses set for the study at 0.05 alpha level. The result revealed that internal crisis, leadership style and appointments of people into the board have significant influence on performance of kwara united in Nigeria premier league. The study therefore recommends that management should not give room for conflict of interest to generate into internal crisis that would affect club performances. Moreso appointment into the board should be based on merit so as to enhance effective performance of football clubs in the league. Keywords: management structure; performance; premier league; internal crisis; football club Copyright ©(2022) Ajadi Memunat Tunrayo mailto:mtajadi2014@gmail.com https://doi.org/10.31949/ijsm.v2i2. Indonesian Journal of Sport Management Tunrayo, 2(2), 2022, 152-158 153 INTRODUCTION Sport is a medium through which competition, friendship, tolerance, unity, discipline, endurance and diplomacy are promoted. Sports as a social event that is the civilizing and socializing process of gathering boys and girls, men and women of a goal will who come together to take part in athletics and sporting events for physical material, social and political development. More importantly in a football club, it is very important to transfer power from time to time to avoid reckless use of the money which came about as a result of various sports achievements to the whole activity areas in the club in a balanced manner and to substructure various investments strategies to develop and grow and create economic magnitude and transform this magnitude to contribute to sportive achievement again (Samur, 2018). According to Robbin (2018), management is the process of getting activities completed efficiently with and through other people. The process, according to him, represents the functions or primary activities engaged in by the managers. He further said that management has several generic properties and regardless of level in an organization, all managers perform the same job and functions regardless of the type of organization. Management involves clear, definable functions, such as planning, organizing, staffing, leading, communicating and controlling. Massie and Douglass (2016) pointed out that management involves the cooperation of individuals and thus deals with the behavioural components of how people in groups can best work together. Management is working with and through individuals and groups to efficiently accomplish organizational goals. It is imperative, therefore, that sports personnel thoroughly understand the importance of effective and efficient management. The management structure is very vital to the success of any organization or team, it could be described as the official line of authority and control within an organization (Babatunde, 2015). Management structure describes the relationship work in a particular organization, in this setting the goal setting depends on the environment and nature of work. Effective management requires a design structure that ensures that the various component is integrated so that their efforts contributes to the overall aim set for the club or team (John, 2018). it is the responsibility of the management to set up and support the governance structure before any activities is been initiated to ensure all key decisions are made right, the management defines the team governance in the document that outlay the role and responsibilities for decision making among team and stakeholders which may include the creation of a committee and its high-level operating rules. In sports management, athletes and coaches levels of performance depend largely on the cooperation and efficiency of the sports manager in attending to their needs. All these individuals are regarded today, as practitioners in the field of sport management. Sports management is the bedrock or cornerstone for sports development in virtually all nations. This is the aspect that is responsible for the smooth running of various sports in terms of planning, organizing, directing and controlling all essentials inputs in sports. A significant concern of management in helping a football team is how to motivate and improve the performance of the players towards desired output, but motivating the players requires making effort to influence individuals and groups in an organization to willingly exert high-level effort to achieve organizational goals (Moronfolu & Adewunmi, 2017). Samur (2018) suggested that the main processes or structure of football management and units covering football are the economic-finance, logistic support, football transfer, team management and team intelligence, and all these must be transformed into a well structured functioning horizontal system, which makes it possible to make the right decisions with the information pool formed by this structure and also been able to prepare itself by meeting the teams demand and ensuring the smooth running of the day to day activities of the team even as the press forward in the professional league table. Indonesian Journal of Sport Management Tunrayo, 2(2), 2022, 152-158 154 The ability of a professional football club such as Kwara United football club which is the official football club for Kwara state in creating its strength depends on the effective management of various sub-processes that motivates the players to perform at their peak and these structures related to the main processes of management of football that are strictly and meticulously followed. A football club can become the favourite club of the sponsor market and can increase its brand awareness through sustainable success in as much as the players are highly motivated towards success by the management structure or the people who manage the academy (Mohammed, 2017). Ugwueze (2010) also opined that sports crisis within the management is described as behaviours exhibited by every involved in the day to day activities of a football club which includes the athletes, official, spectators and even fans who cause harm that occur outside of the rules of the sport and is unrelated to the competitive objectives of the sport. It is also a negative aggressive behaviour that can result to harm, injury or death as well as property damage not by the rules of the sport. Crisis management is seen as a process of predicting and preventing the prevalence of crisis, coping and intervening in crisis and purifying after the occurrence of the problem (Ali, 2014). Crisis management also views to mean the provision of an organization’s pre-planned, rapid response capability supported by leadership, information management and communication capability in an intergraded fashion to ease fast decision making thereby allowing for effective protection of an organization and survival. Crisis management is a term often used to describe the way which crisis is handled in an organization. Leadership is key in sports management, as it allows organizations to endure over time. Leadership style determines how an organization or sports club works (Are, 2019) Leadership mixes tangible and intangible elements within organizations. A leader must create a positive emotional environment, which has an impact on work efficiency. Leaders such as coaches use words and actions as tools to lead organizations to success and use their influence, abilities and knowledge to help teams and groups achieve the objective. Leadership is the result of an intersectional process in which the objectives, the leader and the followers must be taken into account. In the literature on types of leadership, there is no clear consensus on how to measure the leadership capacity or the types of leadership that exist Alfonso, García & Arturo, (2021). (López, 2021) opined that a good leader or good leadership style used in a football club is the one that puts their strategic, tactical, operational and human knowledge at the service of the team and it ensures all the organizational effort between the managers and the players goes on smoothly. There must be a person who stimulates and encourages players individually and collectively through participation and focusing on commitment and responsibility to respond to the complex changes taking place in the football club. Leaders need to motivate followers to make changes and contribute to the desired outcomes. Today's managers and club leaders provide responsible guidance for players and are be willing to play more proactive roles and initiate multi-stakeholder initiatives and technological innovations in sports. However, the manager of a smaller club is often required to take additional administrative roles, so having a player that is used to an aspect, now been transferred to a new team where things are done differently can affect the performance of the players (Bridgewater, 2017). Statement of the Problem It has been revealed through so many studies that one of the major problems that undermine the performance of players within the sports circle in Nigeria is that of bad management and lack of adequate structure within the management or board of trustees. Lack of good and favourable leadership style, corruption, internal crisis, succession of Indonesian Journal of Sport Management Tunrayo, 2(2), 2022, 152-158 155 management and lack of qualified personnel to direct the affair of football club in Nigeria. Most Nigerian sports managers have found it difficult to rise to their responsibilities due to the fact that they often get themself involved in corruption of all sorts and fail to show themselves as good leaders and practical examples to be emulated, which is the hallmark of leadership (Duru, 2001). The researcher observed that Kwara United football club has been in existence since 1997. Although for the past decade, as much as other football clubs around the country experience lots of challenges such as relegation and they keep fighting back. Kwara United football continues to experience various setbacks and challenges in the performance of its players in professional football as most times they are been relegated to the bottom of the table. Various coaches have been employed and fired for the past two decades to create the much-needed turnaround for the football club especially in the performance of the players to spring back to the top of the league in Nigeria. METHOD AND MATERIAL Descriptive research design survey type was employed. This method was considered to be appropriate for this study because its give room for the researchers to collect information and describes the study in detail to the respondents. The population for the study comprises of all players, coaches and management staff of Kwara United football club. With approximately 115 respondents that make up the population were sampled for this study. A researcher structured questionnaire was used to gathered information from the respondents. The instrument was validated by two (2) lecturers in the department of Human Kinetics Education, University of Ilorin and two (2) lecturers in the Department of Human Kinetics & Health Education, Kwara State University Malete (KWASU). The reliability level of the instrument was established through test re-test method using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). A correlation coefficient of 0.68 was obtained. The instrument was administered by the researcher and three (3) trained research assistants. The data collected were analysis using inferential statistics of chi-square (x2) to test the postulated hypotheses set for the study at 0.05 alpha level. RESULT AND DISCUSSION Table 1. Chi-square (x2) analysis of Internal Crisis on the management structure and performance of players of Kwara United Football Club P < 0.05 alpha level Items Sa A D Sd Row total Df Cal. Value Table value Remark I discover that anytime there is a problem in the management, players are usually affected 48 (41.7%) 44 (38.3%) 16 (13.5%) 7 (6.1%) 115 3 193.356 16.92 Ho Rejected Scores to settle within the management always result in the players' performance 34 (29.6%) 59 (51.3%) 17 (14.8%) 5 (4.3%) 115 Internal crisis hindered player performance 51 (44.3%) 41 (35.7%) 17 (14.8%) 6 (5.2%) 115 Poor performance affects players 35 (30.4%) 56 (48.7%) 16 (13.9%) 8 (7.0%) 115 Column Total 168 200 66 26 460 Indonesian Journal of Sport Management Tunrayo, 2(2), 2022, 152-158 156 The findings from the analysis in table 1 indicated the calculated Chi-square value of 193.356 and the table value of 16.92 with the degree of freedom of 3 at 0.05 alpha level. Since the calculated value is greater than the table value, the null hypothesis is rejected. This means that internal crises have a significant influence on the management structure and performance of players of Kwara United Football Club. Table 2. Chi-square analysis of Leadership Style on the management structure and performance of players of Kwara United Football Club P < 0.05 alpha level The findings from the analysis in table 2 indicated the calculated Chi-square value of 166.226 and the table value of 16.92 with the degree of freedom of 3 at 0.05 alpha level. Since the calculated value is greater than the table value, the null hypothesis is rejected. This means that Leadership Style has a significant influence on the management structure and performance of players of Kwara United Football Club. Table 3. Chi-square analysis of Appointment of people within the board on the management structure and performance of players of Kwara United Football Club Items Sa A D Sd Row total Df Cal. Value Table value Remark A democratic leader will always bring out the best in the players 30 (26.1%) 55 (47.8%) 27 (23.5%) 3 (2.6%) 115 3 166.226 16.92 Ho Rejected Autocratic leadership style brings out the best in players 33 (28.7%) 52 (45.2%) 24 (20.9%) 6 (5.2%) 115 Laizer Faire leadership style impedes the performance of players 32 (27.8%) 49 (42.6%) 29 (25.2%) 5 (4.3%) 115 Leadership style affects players performance. 24 (20.9%) 57 (49.6%) 28 (24.3%) 6 (5.2%) 115 Column Total 119 213 108 20 460 Items Sa A D Sd Row total Df Cal. Value Table value Remark The appointment of qualified management is important as it affects the performance of the players 30 (26.1%) 60 (52.2%) 22 (20.9%) 3 (2.5%) 115 3 211.032 16.92 Ho Rejected Unqualified management personnel slows the management process that sees to the affairs of the players thus affecting their performance 25 (21.7%) 68 (53.9%) 17 (6.1%) 5 (4.3%) 115 Giving appointments to the right people without fear or favour is in recognition that players performance relies solely on it. 41 (35.7%) 37 (20.8%) 29 (27.0%) 8 (7.0%) 115 Team members perform best when they are well motivated. 59 (51.3%) 35 (30.4%) 19 (4.5%) 2 (1.0%) 115 Column Total 155 200 87 18 460 Indonesian Journal of Sport Management Tunrayo, 2(2), 2022, 152-158 157 The findings from the analysis Table 6 indicated the calculated Chi-square value of 211.032 and the table value of 16.92 with the degree of freedom of 3 at 0.05 alpha level. Since the calculated value is greater than the table value, the null hypothesis is rejected. This means that the Appointment of board members have a significant influence on the management structure and performance of the players of Kwara United Football Club. Discussion of findings Hypothesis one revealed that internal crises have a significant influence on the management structure and performance of players of Kwara United Football Club. This finding supported the assertion of Reid (2017), Crisis management role in dealing with sports crises can be viewed from three perspectives. Firstly, it is an anticipatory practice and can assist sports organizations in crisis planning. In this case , the effort is made by the team to predict and prepare for a possible crisis. Secondly, it is an important part of the overall sports management task at the time of crisis. Finally, it has a contribution to make in dealing with the aftermath of the crisis. The finding from tested Hypothesis two revealed that Leadership Style has a significant influence on the management structure and performance of players of Kwara United Football Club. The result of this finding agreed by Are( 2019) Leadership style determines how an organization or sports club works (Are, 2019) Leadership mixes tangible and intangible elements within organizations. A leader must create a positive emotional environment, which has an impact on work efficiency. (López, 2021) opined that a good leader or good leadership style used in a football club is the one that puts their strategic, tactical, operational and human knowledge at the service of the team and it ensures all the organizational effort between the managers and the players goes on smoothly The finding from tested Hypothesis three revealed that the appointment of a new board member has a significant influence on the management structure and performance of players of Kwara United Football Club. The result of this finding revealed that there is little consistency in how we understand the role of the football manager (Morrow, 2018). The ways managers and head coaches operate depend on their specific working environments and the cultures surrounding them which have their way of affecting the performance of players and in the long and short term. For example, a club size may be put under the influence of the managerial functions; while a manager in a big club will often concentrate solely on football matters (similar to a head coach). However, the manager of a smaller club is often required to take additional administrative roles, so having a player that is used to an aspect, now been transferred to a new team where things are done differently can affect the performance of the players (Bridgewater, 2017). CONCLUSION Management should not give room for conflict of interest to generate into internal crisis that would affect club performances, also appropriate leadership styles should also be adopted by sport administrators and this would enhance the better performance of Nigeria clubs in their respective league, more so appointment into the board should be based on merit so as to enhance effective performance of football clubs in the league. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Special appreciations goes to the sports administrators, coaches and other technical officials for their mutual understanding and assistance during the collection of data for this study. The management of University of Ilorin was also acknowledge for supporting and creating enabling environment to conduct this study. Indonesian Journal of Sport Management Tunrayo, 2(2), 2022, 152-158 158 REFERENCES Aliu. (2017). Age and cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with arterial stiffening and left ventricular remodelling. 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