Adoption of Human Resource Accounting Practices in State-Owned and Privately Managed Football Clubs in Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines the adoption of Human Resource Accounting (HRA) practices among state-owned and privately managed football clubs in Southwest Nigeria. Using a comparative survey design, primary data were collected from ten football clubs, five state-owned and five privately managed, operating across the six states of Southwest Nigeria. Questionnaires were administered to 78 key personnel. Multiple regression analysis, independent samples t-tests, and chi-square tests were employed to analyse the data. Findings reveal that HRA adoption is at an early and informal stage across all sampled clubs, with privately managed clubs demonstrating significantly higher awareness and partial implementation compared to state-owned clubs (t(76) = -8.13, ρ < .001). The regression model explained 68.1% of variance in HRA adoption (R² = 0.681, F(5,72) = 30.74, ρ < .001), with ownership type (β = 0.521), accounting expertise (β = 0.298), and funding stability (β = 0.187) as the strongest predictors. The study recommends regulatory mandates, capacity building, governance reforms, and international standard adoption to accelerate HRA implementation in Nigerian football.