Gli effetti della corruzione sulla performance delle squadre di calcio: focus su Calciopoli, Apito Dourado e Koriopolis

Corruption is a phenomenon that affects all sectors since the dawn of time and in particular the sports sector. Several studies and research highlighted the fact that this phenomenon is one of the biggest problems within the sporting field. Despite this, it is still complicated to analyze in detail which are the major actors, mechanisms, and conductors that drive this phenomenon. In order to fill this gap, the thesis tries to understand if there is a relationship between the events of corruption and the performance of football teams, in order to understand if the latter suffer negatively the consequences of actions. To do so, three of the largest documented cases of scandal will be considered: first of all the Italian one, the Portoguese one, and the Greek one. In the first part, an introduction of the events is provided, then, we will proceed with a theoretical model which anticipates the results of the empirical models of the third part. There are two different analysis made in order to verify the prediction of the model. The first one concerns the Portugal league, while the second one compares all the three cases. The latter takes into account an economic and an actual performance indicator, reflected respectively by the market value and the final position of each team at the end of the season, it can be seen how during the seasons in which processes take place and scandals emerge, teams suffer a decline in performance, sometimes even economic. Moreover, the analysis also underlines that these episodes have an impact on other competing teams not directly involved, leading to a worsening of their values and their performance in the seasons in which the episodes of corruption occurred. For this reason, greater control and transparency could help to reduce this phenomenon.