Branding of the Islamic Republic of Iran through the International Success of Elite Athletes in Sporting Events1

The purpose of this study was to branding the Islamic Republic of Iran through the international success of elite athletes in Sporting Events that performed through qualitative approach and foundation data theory method (Strauss and Corbin, 1998). The statistical population of the study included scientific and executive experts (federations, managers, professors and sports experts) in the field of sports management and experienced professors attending international sporting events that 15 people were selected by theoretical sampling method and interviewed. The validity of the research tool (interview) was reviewed and confirmed by interviewees and expert professors and intra-subject agreement method (0.74) also used to assess reliability. In order to analyze the data, thematic analysis and data theory foundation were used, which were done in three stages of open coding, axial coding and selective coding and then qualitative model of research was designed. The findings of the present study showed that Factors affecting the branding of the country through the international success of elite athletes include 18 main categories, 41 concepts and 183 open code. Based on the results, it is suggested that the results of this research be used to branding the country through the success of elite athletes.