Identifying and Prioritizing Factors Influencing the Professional Course of Football in Iran

The purpose of this study was to identify and prioritize the factors influencing the career of football professionals in Iran. This research is an applied research and has been done in two parts using mixed method data theories to identify factors and Delphi method for prioritization. The statistical population included 7 coaches, 7 referees and 16 players. The subjects were selected and interviewed in a non-random snowball method. Finally, 7 categories, 12 concepts and 114 factors influencing the course of Iranian football were identified. Prioritization of factors was then performed. The validity of the researcher-made questionnaire was confirmed by ten experts and the reliability of the questionnaire was calculated by Cronbach's alpha 0.971. Then, one-sample t-test was performed for the main classes found in the study using SPSS 18 software. According to the research findings, seven main categories are: organizational factors, government factors, individual factors, behavioral factors, motivational factors, human resource relationships, outcomes, and the most important factors based on 114 effective factors prioritization are: Comprehensive retirement (4.44), Early Childhood Education (4.4), Talent Recognition (4.3), Comprehensive program for all age groups (4.3), and job security (4.3) in football. It is suggested that they use the findings, officials, government, the Ministry of Sport and Youth and the Football Federation to improve and improve the human resources status of the football course and clear the path of the professional course.