Financing African players’ professional career abroad: Does it follow a Pecking order?

This study analyses the financing process of footballers’ career paths using the pecking order theory (POT); first to determine whether the financing options follow a pecking order and secondly to explain how the earnings of players can be proportionally distributed among parties to minimise conflicts and promote sanity based on the POT model. Drawing on mixed methods research design, our findings support POT that players seek internal sources of finance first before looking at external sources. The paper has implications for understanding and resolving conflicts between professional players and claimants emanating from moral hazards in these relationships.