Performance assessment of the soccer teams in Brazil using DEA

Abstract

In this paper we propose a DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) based ranking for Brazilian soccer teams. Ranking is a major issue for the soccer clubs, either when looking for sponsorship or expanding their supportive group. We first include value judgements, applying a method to consolidate the results of the national and international matches. Then we use both aggregate results as outputs for applying the DEA model. Rankings published by the Brazilian Soccer Confederation (CBF) and 'Placar', a traditional sports magazine, do not give any credit to international titles and national cups, focusing only on the results in the National League. We compare the DEA ranking with the Federation's and the magazine's, raising some controversial issues and drawing unexpected conclusions.