Social Issues in Sport Management
Khdijeh Javanbakht; Mohammad Sadegh Afroozeh; Ebrahim Khoshnam; Hosein Dast Barhagh
Abstract
Objective: Many female athletes at some point feel that they have to make difficult decisions between Motherhood and continuing their sports career. Considering the growing trend of women's participation in championship sports and the simultaneous maternal expectations from them, this article examined ...
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Objective: Many female athletes at some point feel that they have to make difficult decisions between Motherhood and continuing their sports career. Considering the growing trend of women's participation in championship sports and the simultaneous maternal expectations from them, this article examined the challenges and facilitators of the motherhood process in Iranian sports.
Methodology: This research was conducted based on a qualitative approach and using thematic analysis. Participants included female athletes and experts in the field, with whom 11 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data analysis was conducted in three stages of open, axial, and selective coding.
Results: Data analysis led to the identification of 104 basic themes. Also, overarching themes including legalism, lifestyle, protectionism, Risk-taking, maternal biology, Financial capability, common discourses, multiple identities, and value were identified, which were divided into three sections: before, during, and after pregnancy.
Conclusion: It seems that policies and governance in women's sports should be proportionate to the four dimensions of context, opportunity, expectations and actions from the perspective of Iranian female athletes in the three stages before, during and after pregnancy. The interpretation of actions should be proportionate to the characteristics of the athlete, the structure of women's sports and clubs. In this regard, in addition to efforts to improve the cultural situation of athletes' motherhood, it is necessary to support and educate women, clubs and society in all three stages.
Sport Governance and Policy-Making
Mohsen Vahdani; Jamshid Jalilvand; Najmeh Rezasoltani
Abstract
Objective: Given the complexity of issues in physical education and student health and the multiplicity of stakeholders involved, shifting from traditional management models to participatory and network-based approaches is an unavoidable necessity. This study aimed to identify and explain strategies ...
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Objective: Given the complexity of issues in physical education and student health and the multiplicity of stakeholders involved, shifting from traditional management models to participatory and network-based approaches is an unavoidable necessity. This study aimed to identify and explain strategies for developing collaborative governance in the Deputy of Physical Education and Health of Iran’s Ministry of Education.
Methodology: This qualitative study employed reflective thematic analysis. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 managers, experts, academics, and specialists in the field of physical education and health within the Ministry of Education. Participants were purposively selected based on expertise criteria. Data analysis followed Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis framework. To enhance trustworthiness, strategies such as triangulation, peer debriefing, and member checking were used.
Results: The analysis yielded 12 main themes and 138 sub-themes. The main themes included public relations and media development, knowledge management, strategic cooperation frameworks, participatory governance mechanisms, trust-building, technological infrastructure, legal frameworks, financial policymaking, structural flexibility, participatory culture, human resource empowerment, and performance monitoring systems.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that collaborative governance in the Deputy of Physical Education and Health requires a multidimensional and network-based approach that simultaneously addresses structural, institutional, technological, and cultural dimensions. This study can provide a basis for redesigning policies and strengthening inter-organizational cooperation in the field of student physical education and health.
Sport Management
Meimanat Abedini Baltork; Mozhgan Memarmoghaddam; Afsaneh Yanpi
Abstract
Objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the planned and implemented curriculum of the undergraduate sport sciences major University of Mazandaran.Methodology: This research was designed quantitatively and followed the descriptive survey method. The statistical population included ...
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Objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the planned and implemented curriculum of the undergraduate sport sciences major University of Mazandaran.Methodology: This research was designed quantitatively and followed the descriptive survey method. The statistical population included 22 professors and 340 students of the Sport Sciences major at the University of Mazandaran in the academic year 2023-2024, respectively. To select the professors, the census sampling method was employed, and to select the students, Morgan's table and proportional stratified random sampling were used, resulting in the selection of 181 students to participate in the study. The research instruments included researcher-made questionnaires for professors and students, along with a quantitative classroom observation checklist. These tools were designed to assess both the intended and implemented curriculum, and their content validity was calculated as 89%. The reliability of the questionnaires, calculated using Cronbach's alpha, was as follows: for the intended curriculum, 0.97 (professors' questionnaire) and 0.90 (students' questionnaire); for the implemented curriculum, 0.96 (professors' questionnaire) and 0.83 (students' questionnaire. . The reliability of the observation tool using the coefficient of agreement was also obtained as 0.92. Descriptive statistics (percentage and frequency) and inferential statistics (dependent t-test and one-sample t-test) were used to analyze the collected data.Results The results showed that from the professors' perspective, there was a fundamental gap between the intended and implemented curriculum in all elements (goal, content, teaching-learning strategy, and evaluation). From the students' perspective, there was a gap between the intended and implemented curriculum in terms of goals, as well as in other elements (content, teaching-learning strategy, and evaluation. The results from classroom observation also indicated that there was no congruence between the implemented and intended curriculum.Conclusion: The existence of a gap between the intended and implemented curriculum shows that a revision of the curriculum is necessary to improve the quality of education in this field. Also, in order to realize the approved curricula, a set of factors is needed to reach the implementation stage properly.
Sport Economics, Marketing and Tourism
Mehdi Salimi; Amir Hossein Labbaf
Abstract
Objective: The present study aimed to propose a comprehensive model of identity marketing in professional sports.
Methodology: A mixed-methods design (qualitative–quantitative) was employed. In the qualitative phase, based on grounded theory (Glaser’s approach), data were collected through ...
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Objective: The present study aimed to propose a comprehensive model of identity marketing in professional sports.
Methodology: A mixed-methods design (qualitative–quantitative) was employed. In the qualitative phase, based on grounded theory (Glaser’s approach), data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 17 university professors, experts, and sports marketing managers selected via theoretical sampling, and analyzed through open and selective coding. In the quantitative phase, the resulting model was validated and prioritized using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and a researcher-made pairwise comparison questionnaire, with the participation of 12 experts in sports marketing selected through purposive and criterion-based sampling.
Results: The qualitative findings led to the identification of 84 final concepts organized into several theoretical categories that explained the key dimensions of identity marketing from the participants’ perspectives. These categories included audience-brand identity formation, brand–audience interaction in the digital context, brand identity construction, and contextual enablers of identity marketing. The quantitative analyses confirmed and prioritized these categories in the final model, with audience-brand identity formation identified as the most significant factor in identity marketing in professional sports.
Conclusion: The proposed model demonstrates that identity marketing in professional sports goes beyond traditional approaches and requires a deep understanding of the psychological, social, and symbolic connections between the brand and its audience. Focusing on strengthening audience identity, increasing digital engagement, and constructing a strong and coherent brand identity can lead to sustainable audience connections, greater loyalty, and active participation.
Social Issues in Sport Management
Ehsan Kargar; Ali Afrouzeh; Mohammad Pourkiani
Abstract
Objective: The present study aimed to identify and explain the psychological, social, and structural factors influencing football dropout among Iranian adolescents, with a particular emphasis on the lived experiences of former youth academy players.
Methodology: This study employed a qualitative approach ...
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Objective: The present study aimed to identify and explain the psychological, social, and structural factors influencing football dropout among Iranian adolescents, with a particular emphasis on the lived experiences of former youth academy players.
Methodology: This study employed a qualitative approach using a phenomenological design. Participants included 13 former youth football players who had previously competed at professional academy levels and had either decided to drop out of football or withdrawn from elite pathways. Participants were selected through purposive sampling combined with snowball recruitment. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews lasting between 30 and 45 minutes. The interviews were analyzed using Braun & Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis framework. To enhance the trustworthiness of the findings, the criteria proposed by Guba & Lincoln (1994)—including credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability—were applied.
Results: The analysis yielded five main themes: (1) motivational and emotional erosion within the football pathway, (2) structural ambiguity and instability in career progression, (3) diminished perceived competence within the competitive football context, (4) disruptions in professional relationships and experiences of perceived injustice, and (5) psychological, social, and future-oriented pressures. The findings indicate that football dropout in adolescence is not a single-cause phenomenon but rather the result of a complex interaction between reduced enjoyment, coaching style, structural insecurity, perceived injustice, social comparison, and concerns about future professional prospects.
Conclusion: Football dropout during adolescence is a gradual and multidimensional process emerging from the interaction of individual, interpersonal, and structural factors. Developing supportive training environments, enhancing transparency in developmental pathways, improving coach–athlete relationships, and implementing structured transition support mechanisms at critical exit points may play a decisive role in reducing youth football dropout. The findings provide a foundation for designing evidence-based interventions within the Iranian youth football system.
Sport Governance and Policy-Making
Mohammad Naghi Ebrahimzadeh; Ahmad Mahmoudi; Amin Dehghan Ghahfarokhi; Ebrahim Alidoust Ghahfarokhi
Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the effective management of the Chess Federation of Iran with an emphasis on the adaptation of chess strategies.
Methodology: The study employed a qualitative approach using thematic analysis. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth ...
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Objective: This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the effective management of the Chess Federation of Iran with an emphasis on the adaptation of chess strategies.
Methodology: The study employed a qualitative approach using thematic analysis. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews with 16 elites of Iranian chess, including managers, coaches, referees, federation experts, and sports management professors. Sampling was conducted purposefully and theoretically, and the interview process continued until data adequacy was achieved. Data analysis was performed using Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-step thematic analysis approach.
Results: The findings led to the extraction of 41 concepts, 10 sub-themes, and 3 main themes. The main themes included: Manager's Intra-organizational Competencies (including managerial functions, ethical commitment, and contextual knowledge); Sustainable Resources, Structure, and Governance (including financial resources, infrastructure, managerial stability, and consensus); and Strategic Interactions with an Emphasis on Chess Strategies (including eight chess strategies such as thinking ahead and active defense, along with sports diplomacy and environmental requirements).
Conclusion: The findings indicate that the effective management of the Chess Federation of Iran requires the simultaneous realization of the manager's intra-organizational competencies, the establishment of a stable resource and structural foundation, and the application of chess strategies to cope with environmental requirements. This model can serve as a basis for developing strategic plans for the federation and evaluating managerial performance.
Innovation and Technology in Sport
SeyedReza Hosseini; Amin Khatibi; Tahereh Azmsha
Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to analyze the attitudes of fans and referees toward the implementation of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the Iranian Football Pro League.Methodology: This study was applied in terms of its purpose and employed a descriptive-survey design for data collection. The statistical ...
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Objective: This study aimed to analyze the attitudes of fans and referees toward the implementation of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the Iranian Football Pro League.Methodology: This study was applied in terms of its purpose and employed a descriptive-survey design for data collection. The statistical population comprised two groups: the fan group included all supporters of Iranian Pro League teams during the 2023–2024 season, aged 11 to 58 years; the referee group comprised all referees certified by the Football Federation, aged 18 to 63 years. Using random sampling, 224 fans and 121 referees were selected to complete the questionnaire. The research questionnaire was developed based on the findings of previous studies and, following the confirmation of face and content validity by experts and reliability through Cronbach’s alpha test (α=0.738), was distributed electronically among the research population. After examining the data distribution using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were applied for data analysis, using SPSS software.Results: The overall mean attitude of fans toward the use of VAR was significantly more favorable than that of referees (P<0.05). This difference in attitude was more pronounced in two factors: match quality and attractiveness, and the future prospects of the VAR system.Conclusion: In general, it can be stated that although both groups hold a positive attitude toward the use of VAR, fans possess a more favorable perspective on this technology. One possible reason for the referees’ lower level of enthusiasm may be the loss of control and decisiveness in decision-making, as they are sometimes compelled to reverse their initial on-field call. Factors contributing to the greater interest among fans include the inherent suspense in the review process and its unpredictability, which can instantly alter the outcome of a match.
Sport Governance and Policy-Making
Fatemeh Hadipoor; Shahram Shafiee; Hossein Brakhas
Abstract
Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of the political and economic consequences of women's presence in stadiums on the credibility of Iranian football with the mediating role of media flow and sports cultural diplomacy.
Methodology: This research was descriptive-correlational ...
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Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of the political and economic consequences of women's presence in stadiums on the credibility of Iranian football with the mediating role of media flow and sports cultural diplomacy.
Methodology: This research was descriptive-correlational in nature, applied in purpose, and conducted through a field study approach. The statistical population consisted of sports managers and experts, coaches, referees, athletes, and university faculty members. A sufficient sample size for modeling was selected non-randomly and conveniently and analyzed (101 individuals). The measurement tools included a questionnaire on political consequences (10 items), economic consequences (7 items), media flow (6 items), sports cultural diplomacy (6 items), and football credibility (14 items), based on a five-point Likert scale. The content and face validity of these tools were confirmed by experts in the fields of football, women's sports, and sports management professors (11 individuals), and composite reliability, construct validity, convergent validity, and divergent validity were established using factor analysis. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS and SmartPLS 3 software.
Results: The results indicated that the political and economic consequences of women's presence significantly affected media flow, sports cultural diplomacy, and the credibility of Iranian football. Media flow and sports cultural diplomacy had a significant effect on the credibility of Iranian football. Additionally, the Sobel test results demonstrated that the political and economic consequences significantly influenced the credibility of Iranian football through the mediating roles of media flow and sports cultural diplomacy.
Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the credibility of Iranian football stems not only from sports performance but also from its ability to intelligently manage the social, political, and economic dimensions of women's presence, leverage media power, and employ active diplomacy. These synergistic factors contribute to consolidating and enhancing the position of this sport both nationally and globally.
