Leveling the Barriers to the Development of Sports Volunteering for the Disabled in Iran using a Structural-Interpretive Model

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the leveling of barriers to the development of sports volunteering for the disabled in Iran using a structural-interpretive model.

It was performed based on the purpose of applied research and in terms of data collection by the exploratory mixed method. Participants included professors of sports management, managers, and specialists in the field of the disabled and volunteering in the country. Data collection tools were semi-structured interviews and structural self-interaction matrix questionnaires. In the first part, the data were organized using the thematic analysis method and in the form of basic, organized and comprehensive themes. Also, using the interpretive structural model, the identified obstacles were classified.

The results showed that barriers to the development of sports volunteering for the disabled as a comprehensive theme include 54 basic themes and 8 organizing themes which were classified into 3 levels and based on the results of lack of material and spiritual support for disabled volunteering, poor management of sports organizations, Ignorance of laws and macro-politics, non-compliance of sports facilities with the disabled are in the first level and are considered the most important obstacles. Also, in the second level, there is inappropriate media coverage, and in the last level, there are individual restrictions, inappropriate position of volunteering in Iranian sports, and a negative attitude towards the abilities and competencies of the disabled.

By focusing on removing the identified barriers, we can help a lot in the development of social capital as well as the effectiveness of the performance of sports organizations.