Gender diversity in the board of football clubs: a systematic literature review

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and ESG factors have determined a new challenge for companies all over the world, which necessarily find themselves having to face it to successfully pursue their business, resulting in a radical change in management corporate, for which it becomes essential to combine the basic objective of profit maximization with the reduction of the negative impact on the environment and society. Football clubs around the world, including Italian ones, have begun to implement activities in line with community directives regarding corporate sustainability. The objective of this study will be to shed light on the phenomenon of gender diversity in the Board of Directors of companies and in those operating in the football sector. We want to highlight the gap that exists between men’s and women’s work opportunities, addressing the glass-ceiling phenomenon, i.e. the glass ceiling that limits women’s access to top roles, and highlighting the pay gap in equal roles and quantity of hours worked. The paper is divided as follows: introduction/background, methodology, systematic literature review, conclusions and limitations of the research.