The Environmental Analysis of Professional Sports in Iran

The purpose of this study was the environmental analysis of the structure of sports in Iran based on a hierarchical model of sports. Methods of data collection include library research, Delphi method and finally a researcher made questionnaire. Using Cronbach's alpha, the reliability of the questionnaire was obtained as 0.94. The statistical population of the study consisted of staff- and operational managers of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and heads of federations, experts and managers of sports associations in school sports federations, and faculty members who are specialists in sports and are informed about the research topic. In this study, the sample was determined as equivalent to the research population and by counting all. Out of 302 questionnaires sent to members of the research population, 238 questionnaires were filled (79 percent). For data analysis, descriptive statistics and inferential tests including the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, comparison of the mean of the population (one sample t-test), Friedman's analysis of variance and Kruskal-Wallis test (H) were applied. The results showed that professional sports in Iran were in conservative strategy position (WO). The most advantageous point of professional sports in Iran is the presence of spectators in sports, while the main drawback is the lack of based teams in the clubs. The most important opportunities of professional sports is that the population is young and the interest and potentiality in sports; whereas the most important threats lays in political misuse of professional sports.