Investigation the Identity Status of Iranian Premier League Football Clubs Fans(A Case Study of Esteghlal Tehran Cultural and Athletic Club)

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to investigate the identity situation of Iranian Premier League clubs, which was a case study on Esteghlal Cultural and Sports Club of Tehran. The present study is a descriptive-survey research and in terms of purpose is an applied one. by following case studies that were conducted in the field form from the perspective of data collection. The research population consisted of all fans of Esteghlal Club of Tehran which 346 persons were selected as the final sample of the research according to the spatial and temporal domain. In order to measure the identity of the fans, the Sports Fans Identity Scale that was created by Shajieh, Sohrabi and Fouladian (2009), was used. The results of one-way analysis of variance test show that there is a significant difference between self-identity and social identity subscales based on the segregation of sports fans’ education. Also, the results of Friedman ranking test showed that among the factors that construct the fans' identity, their identity was ranked first and their influence and social identity were ranked second and third. According to the results of the research, recognizing the components of fan identity, forming a fan management system, paying attention to the needs of fans, and paying basic attention to fan centers are among the operational measures that are becoming more and more necessary.