Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Seyed Mehdi Seyed Bagheri ¹
• Rasool Norouzi Seyed hossini ²
• Marjan Saffari ³
• Esmaeil Sharifian ⁴

¹ PhD student in Sport Management, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

² Associate Professor of Sport Management, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

³ Assistant Professor of Sport Management, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

⁴ Associate Professor of Sport Management, Faculty of Physical Education, Shahid Bahonarkerman University, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the current research was to identify the factors affecting the expansion of the underground economy in professional football in Iran.
Methodology: The research method was qualitative and thematic analysis. The statistical population of the research was all people who are knowledgeable and involved in the economic issues of football, and the snowball sampling method (linear type) was used. Data were collected through internal and semi-structured interviews with 12 experts.
Results: The results of the theme analysis include ten main themes that expand the underground economy in Iranian football, including 1. Unsystematic betting 2. Susceptibility of football to money laundering 3. Weakness of the tax system and culture in sports 4. Weakness of laws and tightening of prohibitions 5. Policies Economic defect 6. Structural-organizational inefficiency in football 7. Management weakness in football 8. Government administration and government rents 9. Corruption and lack of resistance to fight against it 10. Institutional dysfunction. Which were placed in the 4 main cultural, legal, political-economic and structural-organizational dimensions.
Conclusion: In general, according to the findings of the research, it can be concluded that in order to reduce the underground economy in the sports industry, especially football, the administrative and management system of football should be depoliticized and the government's interference in this field should be minimized. Also, while developing the tax culture, the provincial tax system should be formulated according to the specific characteristics of football and by providing a platform for privatization in football, the possibility of free competition can be created.

Keywords

• Shadow economy
• Money laundering
• Betting
• Sports industry
• Institutional weakness