A Crisis Management Framework and Considerations for Organizing Commercial International Football Matches: Al Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo's China Tour

ABSTRACT

As commercial international football matches (CIFMs) become an emerging global phenomenon in contemporary sport events, they often encounter crises. However, limited literature has focused on crisis management of CIFMs. Therefore, this study seeks to address two research questions: (1) What is the process of crisis management for CIFMs? (2) What are the key considerations for organizing CIFMs from a crisis management perspective? Grounded in a retroductive logic and employing a case study methodology, this study develops a framework tailored to CIFM crisis management and applies it to examine the crisis management process of Al Nassr's China Tour in 2024. According to the framework, the process of crisis management for CIFMs comprises four stages: recognizing crisis factors, discovering crisis symptoms, confronting the crisis, and reflecting on the crisis. Each stage requires internal and external landscape analysis to act accordingly. Key considerations for organizing CIFMs include viewing crisis management from a process‐based approach, understanding distinct cultural and regulatory contexts, keeping proactive collaborations and clear communications across stakeholders, and paying particular attention to fans. Theoretically, the study extends sport crisis management literature by focusing on the operational process of organizing sport events. It also broadens the lens of sport crisis management by incorporating the crisis communication theme into a wider process‐based view and by integrating stakeholder theory from a resilience perspective. Managerially, the study provides event organizers and stakeholders with practical guidance for managing crises in CIFMs and helps enhance the resilience of this sector.