Analyzing the role of cyberspace in crimes against national security with emphasis on the sports environment

Cyberspace redefines human communication. Every day we see more and more people using this space. Despite the many advantages of this space, it also has its own problems. The aim of this study was to analyzing the role of cyberspace in crimes against national security with emphasis on the sports environment.

This research was applied and descriptive. The research method was qualitative and was performed by Grounded Theory method (Glaser’s approach). The statistical population included all experts in the field of sports management, sports sociology, sports law and related fields. Snowballing method was used to interview 19 people and data collection continued until theoretical saturation. Also, it has been studied and researched in scientific sources such as articles, books, scientific webs.

In the open coding phase, the 127 initial codes extracted from 19 interviews with experts in the field of research became 20 concepts. Then, these concepts were classified (categorized) based on the thematic similarity in 3 categories. Finally, the most important crimes against property in the sports environment of Iran affected by cyberspace were: A) Ethnic and racist issues, b) lies publishing and c) weakening national solidarity and international credibility.

As cybercrime is constantly evolving, efforts should be made to introduce laws that apply to new crime each year Due to the emergence of this space, there are many problems in dealing with violations and crimes. Therefore, efforts should be made to fill the legislative gap in this area, and according to the existence of new categories in cyberspace, laws should be redefined and new criminal and legal laws should be enacted in accordance with the trends.