Designing an Interpretive Structural Model of Barriers to the Development of Beach Soccer in Iran

Beach soccer is one of the emerging sports that has attracted the attention of most countries in the world. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the development of beach soccer in Iran. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to design an interpretive structural model of barriers to the development of beach soccer in Iran. This research is applied in terms of purpose and data collection was done in the field and in a mixed qualitative and quantitative manner. The statistical population in the quantitative part, including the officials of the beach soccer committee of the federation and the football delegations, the managers of the clubs and the coaches of the national beach soccer teams, was equal to 50 in total and in the qualitative part, 18 experts. Due to the limitation of members, the statistical sample was equal to the community. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire containing 16 items which was designed based on a comprehensive study of sources and opinions of the qualitative research sample and using the Delphi method. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by 10 university professors and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha test (α = 0.88). Barriers were inserted in the form of structural self-interaction and a qualitative sample was provided as a questionnaire. ISM technique was used to level the obstacles and determine the priority of the action. Based on the findings, the obstacles were classified into seven levels. Obstacles to the lack of a development plan and the lack of attention of federation officials and football delegations to the development of beach soccer were at the basic level of the model. In general, it can be said that more attention of the officials of the Football Federation and the delegations on the design and implementation of the strategic plan will facilitate the removal of many intermediate and top obstacles of the model.