football

Objective : Football, as the most viewed event in stadiums overflowed with very many spectators, has turned into the most popular sport across the world. The purpose of this study was to compare the factors affecting the technical and ethical performance of professional football athletes off-field. Methodology : The research method of this research is descriptive survey implemented by completing a researcher-made questionnaire. The statistical population of the study included all athletes, referees, and coaches, members of the technical staffs and members of professional soccer clubs as well as members of the federation and football board of Tehran during the 18 th round of the country premier league. The research sample was 384 people who were selected by purposeful sampling method and according to Morgan table. The validity of the questionnaire was evaluated by the professors of physical education and football experts and the reliability level was calculated to be 0.89 based on the Cronbach's alpha that was done by Exploratory Factor Analysis and Friedman test by SPSS version 24 and Liserl 8.8 software. Results: The present study was surveyed on the basis of effective factors off-field, that is the most important factors off-field were federation and family and the status of the club were the least important factor in the technical and ethical performance of professional football athletes. Conclusions: Supervision and education can play an important role, and family as the first social unit can be also of importance in this respect. After family, the FFIRI should take basic measures for culture-building and detailed reflections on its activities.

Football stadiums are the main infrastructures of this popular sport in the society. The purpose of this study is to provide a Pattern for cultural promotion in football fans in stadiums in Iran, which was done by qualitative research method and using grounded theory approach. Through snowball sampling and by conducting 21 semi-structured interviews with university professors and experts in football and culture theoretical saturation was achieved. The results of data analysis in 3 stages of open-coding, axial-coding and selective coding indicate 28 categories that these findings are within the framework of the final model including: Hooliganism, behavioral factors, media, managerial challenges, infrastructural factors and Juridical and legal as causal factors; the nature of football, advocacy and government actions and policy making as context factors; Celebrities, social contexts, economic conditions, Trends and interest, cultural and social and technology as an intervener; manpower, education and training, media, cyberspace, structural strategies and Infrastructural strategies as appropriate ways to promote the level of culture in football fans in stadiums as strategies. According to the proposed pattern, promoting the cultural level of the spectators, marketing development, Exercise promotion, financial development, social progress, the growth of moral security and growth of behavioral security in Iran can be mentioned as positive consequences of promoting cultural levels in football fan in stadiums.

Present research is considered applied-developmental in its objective and qualitative concerning the research nature of data, and the research design was the interpretative structural model (ISM). In order to gather data, semi-structured in-depth interviews with experts in the consumer behavior domain, selected by theoretical sampling, have been utilized. The statistical population includes all sports managers, sports specialists, and fans, and sampling continued until theoretical sufficiency was achieved. After research completion, results were sent to two participants, and their opinions were approved by identifying indices related to football fans' superstitious behavior to draw the interpretative- structural model of factors influencing football fans' superstitious behavior. The result indicated the level of dependence and influence power of each index according to which individual characteristics and environmental conditions in the region under the influence include inculcation index in the autonomous region (independent) and indices of relief, the transmission of evil, coercion, and deterrence in the dependent region.

Although the succession planning literature focuses more on managerial and staffing levels in organizations, it can also be used for players in clubs and sport teams. The purpose of the research was to identify and evaluate a model of player succession in Iranian football premier League. The research method was mixed (qualitative and quantitative). The statistical population of this research in the qualitative section includes 16 specialists and experts in football, and in the quantitative part of the research, all managers, athletes, coaches and football referees in the Premier League in 2020, and finally 286 subjects were studied through stratified random sampling in quantitative phase. Research hypotheses were examined using correlations and structural equations modelling . A total of 189 primary codes (concepts) were extracted in the coding process, which after validation, 33 primary codes (concepts) were compiled. In the model, causal conditions included binding or motivating factors as well as the process of replacing players. Underlying conditions involved networking to develop a player replacement program, interacting with other organizations, formulating binding strategies, and setting a budget to promote win-win thinking in the football club succession program in Iran.

Branding is the main process of profitability and it can be defined as critical basis for sport industry. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the factors affecting the brand associations of the Iranian football league organization. The research population of the study included the faculty members of universities, members of the board of directors of the football federation, the board and staff of the league organization, and the managers and experts of the football federation. The research sample was selected through convenience sampling. A researcher-developed questionnaire was distributed for collecting the research data. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by ten professors of sports management and the reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha test. To analyze the research data, Partial Least Squares test (PLS) was applied. Findings showed that the research variables included tradition, competitive balance, stadium atmosphere, management, competition, star player, education, competition, game show, community pride, socialization, player development, getting rid of everyday life, nostalgia, interest in a special team, excitement, acceptance in the peer group, logo, and product delivery had a positive and significant effect on the brand associations of Iranian football league organization. Therefore, it is suggested that managers and officials of sports federations use the results of this research to enhance the brand positioning of the football leagues.

Audience behaviour is an external factor which could influence an athlete’s performance during a match due to the evaluative attitude which it might convey. One of the most common positive influences on a team’s motivation can be attributed to a supportive and cheering audience. Contrastingly, jeering can be interpreted as negative influence. High emotions exchanged between the spectators and the players may also show the important ties which bind them together, and this can affect the players’ behaviour on the field of play. This study focuses on how crowd behaviour in Maltese football influences the players’ performance in the game. The influence of spectator behaviour on the psychological state of six male national senior football team members and six male national team youth players was analysed through data gathered from individual semi-structured interviews. Results show that both senior and youth players are influenced by variables of audience behaviour and feel pressured and anxious throughout matches.  Incentives for positive behaviour need to be introduced, together with sanctions for the breaking of rules, as well as slogans and placards placed in the stands for further awareness need to become the norm. If we are to curb societal issues such as racism and violence, the need for educational strategies is clear.

This article aims to discourse analysis the concept of corruption in the Ninety (90) TV program and understands how this program is used to criticize corruption and construct the corruption discourse in football. This research has attempted to analyze three programs on corruption using a CDA method and conflating Laclau, and Mouffe with Fairclough, and Van Dijk's approaches to understand the discursive order of the program and to highlights nodal points and moments. In this TV program, the nodal point of Ferdowsipours' discourse is anti-corruption: poor management, slogan-oriented, Lack of seriousness, institutionalism, Lack of government involvement, democracy, and attention to infrastructure are its moments. In the context of political corruption, the involvement of government and politicians in sports affairs is irrational, and attention to democracy and good governance can be helpful. In the context of competitive corruption and bribery, the most important way out of corruption is to pay attention to the cooperation of institutions and administrative and legal grounds. Regarding the dealings in football, the host criticized the people involved in this case and pointed out that corruption in Iranian football is common. In this program, the signifiers for law, governance, equality, and serious struggle are some of the essential signifiers highlighted. Each participant has considered the entry of politics into sports as a factor of Corruption. Furthermore, the focus of the program is more on the social practices in Iran (the current state of football), and its epistemes are based more on the local context.

Psychological commitment has been to date one of the interesting research topics in sports psychology. To achieve a deeper understanding of sports fans' psychological characteristics, this study aimed to design a qualitative model of the factors affecting psychological commitment in football fans in Iran based on grounded theory approach. In this qualitative-analytical study, 27 experts in the field of sports and fan loyalty in the Iranian Football Premier League from the top universities in Iran were interviewed based on purposive and triangulation sampling approach. The data analysis was also performed by open and axial coding, of which 53 concepts and 11 categories were classified under five general themes. The developed research model consisted of five major effective factors including: triggers, psychological characteristics, demographic characteristics, reference groups, and club-related issues. The results revealed that such factors could be the main actors shaping sports fans' psychological commitment.

The purpose of this study was to clarify and analyze the factors affecting the access of Zanjan province football teams to higher levels of national leagues in Iran. The method of this study was mixed. The research population consisted of 193 coaches and 18 members selected from chairpersons and secretaries of Zanjan province football associations. The sampling was purposive at the interview stage, but at the stage of distributing the questionnaire, given the limited number of first, second, and third-class coaches and also the limited number of chairpersons and secretaries of football associations, the samples were selected through total sampling approach and in the case of class 4 coaches, 108 subjects were chosen according to Morgan table. The research tool was only a questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was approved by 12 experts and its reliability was found to be 0.94 according to Cronbach's alpha. For data analysis, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Binomial, and Friedman tests were used. The results of the research showed that among the general factors except for the research and education, the effect of other factors including economic, technical, facilities and equipment, managerial, psychological, social, and cultural, and among the minor factors, 22 out of 29 factors are significantly higher than the average. Considering the explained factors and investment in these factors can help the football teams in Zanjan province to promote to the higher Levels of national leagues in Iran.

This research aims to study the factors affecting gender equality in Iraqi football setting. The current research is based on a quantitative approach. The research population consisted of the employees of the football federation, players, and football coaches in Iraq. Based on Morgan's table, 384 people completed a researcher-developed questionnaire through random sampling. The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by eight professors of sports management. Convergent and divergent validity and composite reliability were checked and confirmed by the PLS software. Findings showed patriarchal culture, gender stereotypes, the variable of gender inequality in broadcasts, the biased performance of social media in gender equality, gender inequality in budgeting and financial support, the variable of public support for men's football, and inequality in accessing to sports facilities and equipment have significant effects on gender equality in Iraqi football setting. However, the findings reveal that family restrictions do not have significant effect on gender equality in Iraqi football setting.

Background: Superstitions and rituals have long been a part of sports culture, with many athletes believing that they can bring good luck or improve their performance. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between superstitions and sports success in Iraqi football league players. Materials and Methods: This study used a descriptive-correlational analysis method, with data collected in the field from a sample of 200 players randomly selected from the population of players in the Iraqi football premier league. Two standard questionnaires, Superstition in Sports and Sports Success Questionnaire, were used to collect data, both of which were designed based on the Likert five value range. Results: The study found that there is a significant relationship between superstitions and sports success, with the most important priority related to the component of "team ritual" (5.58) in superstitions and "commitment" (4.58) in sports success. The study also found that 37% of changes in sporting success are related to superstitious components. Conclusion: Based on the study's findings, it can be concluded that the use of superstitious rituals can have a positive effect on the sports success of athletes.

Background: Football players, in their pursuit of optimal physical and mental performance, frequently employ various recovery techniques. Among these, sleep emerges as a consistently highlighted and crucial element in athletes’ physical and cognitive performance.  Aim: This study aimed to investigate the correlation between sleep quality and mental toughness (MT), while concurrently exploring the relationship between MT and different football positions.Materials and Methods: A total of 473 Iranian football players, comprising 287 males and 186 females, were selected through a simple random sampling method by completing two questionnaires that assessed their sleep quality (PSQI) and MT (SMTQ-14).Results: The findings showed that athletes with higher subjective sleep quality and longer sleep duration demonstrated high levels of MT. Moreover, defenders and attackers exhibited the highest levels of MT compared to other playing positions. Notably, male football players reported higher sleep quality and MT compared to their female counterparts.Conclusion: This study focused on the relationship between sleep quality and MT among football players. The study revealed that both male and female football players with better sleep quality and longer sleep duration had higher MT, with males scoring higher overall. Moreover, defenders regardless of gender, exhibited the strongest MT.