بهزاد سهیلی

The outbreak of coronavirus has posed a serious threat to sports businesses. The aim of this study was identifying the factors affecting participatory governance of coronavirus crisis management in sports businesses. The study was applied in terms of purpose and qualitative research using unstructured Glaser method. The statistical population consists of experts who have scientific, executive or both expertises in sports management. In the present study, the opinions of 15 experts were collected during a semi-structured interview in a purposeful way until the theoretical saturation was reached. The reliability of the interviews was 0.75 using the intra-subject agreement study method. To analyze the data, continuous comparison method was used during the three stages of open, axial and selective coding by Maxqda2018 software. 60 codes were obtained in the open coding stage and 7 axes in the axial coding stage and finally, the factors of systemic approach, compensatory strategy, NGOs, crisis response policy, media support, e-government and crisis governance were identified as effective factors. As a result, crisis management based on participatory governance can increase its capabilities in dealing with such crises due to these factors and perform better in reviving and keeping sports and sports businesses active.

The recommendations and solutions provided by researchers in critical situations such as the spread of the corona virus lead us to a solution for holding sports events under special conditions in order to prevent the spread of such diseases while creating opportunities for people to participate in sports events and activities. In case of coronavirus outbreak, Offline events have shifted the public's focus from In-person and live streaming events to the web and cyberspace and it seems that in such a situation, the media and social networks and offline activities can break the spell of stillness and silence in the field of sports and open an opening to the attractive and popular world of sports. However, with many people unable to participate in their normal activities, it is important to take advantage of opportunities for physical activity and exercise in the midst of this global crisis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting participation in offline sport events during coronavirus pandemic. The research method is descriptive and survey type and applied in terms of purpose. The statistical population included all participants in the offline national competitions of the three sports of sumo, petanque and o-sport in 2021, in which 300 participants voluntarily completed the researcher-made questionary. The reliability of the research tool was reported using Cronbach's alpha method of 0.92. SPSS version 24 software was used for data analysis. Finally, by using structural equation modeling based on the partial least squares approach with SmartPLS software, the research hypotheses and causal model testing of the identified variables were investigated. Findings showed that the research model has a good fit and can be used to examine the factors affecting individual participation. The effect of factors of involvement, satisfaction and attitude of individuals on their participation in offline sports events was significant. Findings also showed that the factors of event characteristics, involvement and satisfaction increase the likelihood of developing a positive attitude towards participation in these events. Attitudes, satisfaction and involvement factors in an offline sports event, can also be intermediaries between the characteristics of the event and participation in it. Finding new ways for individuals and society to participate in sports is considered a unique opportunity. Holding offline sports events can be a creative solution to reduce the negative effects of crises such as the Corona pandemic and fill the void of activities and holding sports events, because it eliminates direct and close contact between people and also reduces trips and commuting. Many researches in line with the present research consider the level of involvement, attitude and satisfaction of people to be effective in increasing their sports participation. For example, Mason (2005) refers to the attitude factor, Alexandris et al (2007) and Funk et al (2004) to the conflict factor and Noori Khanyourdi et al (2023) and Yusuf et al (2019), Soheily et al (2018) to the satisfaction factor. Since these factors play an important and influential role in their participation in offline sports events, it is necessary to examine the factors that affect these variables. It is suggested that managers and sports professionals do their best and in different ways, such as raising the quality of events, increase the necessary grounds for the satisfaction of people to participate more in such events in conditions such as the Corona crisis. The findings of the current research showed that the factors of attitude, satisfaction and involvement in an offline sports event can also be a mediator between the characteristics of the event and participation in it. The findings of this research are in line with the results of the research of Soheily et al (2018) on the mediating role of satisfaction and show that the characteristics of the event affect satisfaction and satisfaction has a significant effect on people's participation in offline sports events in this critical condition. The findings of this research are also aligned with the results of ALexandris et al (2007) and show that the involvement of people in an offline event can be a mediator between the characteristics of that event and participation in it. Also, the results of the research in line with the results of the research of Yusuf et al (2019) show that the characteristics of the event can affect the attitude towards the event, which is an effective motivational factor for attending a sports event. According to the findings of the research, evaluating the participants' perceptions is one of the useful methods that can be considered to increase their participation. In order to reduce the negative effects of the spread of the corona virus on the sports industry, sports institutions should update their communication with their fans and supporters and take the best and most advantage of virtual solutions such as online networks and official websites (Heydari et al, 2021). The findings of this research showed that the level of satisfaction, the level of involvement, the attitude towards the event and the characteristics of the event can be effective on people's intention to participate in offline sports events. Therefore, it is suggested that in order to maintain better communication with fans, spectators and enthusiasts who are the main assets of sports, these effective factors should be taken into consideration. A virus like Corona is highly contagious and its lethality is significant; therefore, it requires different management. Holding offline sports events can be an effective strategy to temporarily replace sports events in this situation. Of course, according to the findings of the research, in the successful holding of such events, the factors that affect participation should be considered. In general, it should be noted that the research model may not be able to fully express the intention of people to attend offline sports events, but knowing these effective factors can be useful in order to increase participation in sports events in situations such as the Corona crisis. Therefore, considering these factors, the current research considers the development of offline events as an important strategy in such situations, and it is suggested that managers of offline sports events provide appropriate planning for the development of participation by measuring the factors affecting participation.

Satisfaction in all situations is a competitive advantage for organizations. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between work ethics and power resources of manager with job satisfaction of the staff of the general administration of sports and youth of Alborz province. According to Krejcie and Morgan's sample size table, 127 employees of the general administration of sports and youth of Alborz province completed standard questionnaires of work ethics (Petty, 1990), Managers power resources (Wann et al., 2000) and job satisfaction (Linz, 2003) on a classified random and voluntary basis. Data analysis was performed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as Pearson correlation for determining simple relationships and multivariate regression to predict the relationships of variables using SPSS software. The results showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between the variables of work ethics and job satisfaction, power and job satisfaction, power and work ethics. The results also showed that work ethics was a good predictor for job satisfaction and power resources could not be a good predictor for job satisfaction. Overall, it can be stated that since human resources are the core capital of any organization and for achieving the desired results, both the manager and staff are crucial, therefore the selection of appropriate ways of exercising power and work ethics by managers that can lead to job satisfaction will increases the likelihood of organizations’ succeed and achieving their goals.

Components affecting organizations should always be evaluated and measured so that organizations can advance their development model. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between organizational culture and knowledge management with efficient performance management of the staff of the Administration of Sports and Youth of Alborz Province. The method of this applied research was descriptive-correlation. According to Morgan's sample size table, 127 employees of the general administration of sports and youth of Alborz province completed standard questionnaires of Denison Organizational Culture (2000), Lawson Knowledge Management (2004), Moghimi and Ramazan (2011) randomly. Data analysis was performed by Pearson correlation coefficient method and regression analysis. By calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient, a positive and significant relationship between organizational culture and knowledge management with efficient performance management was shown. Also, regression analysis showed that organizational culture and knowledge management predict 0.28 and 0.47% of effective performance management of staff, respectively. Based on the findings of the research, it can be said that the correct application of the components of knowledge management and organizational culture in efficient performance management is very smart and it paves the way for advancing goals and provides the tool of growth, success and promotion of the organization to the management.

In times of crisis, a specific action plan to promote more resilient and sustainable sports can be considered a model for participatory governance in crisis management. The research purpose was to investigate participatory governance of coronavirus crisis management in small and medium sports businesses. The research method was mixed (qualitative-quantitative). The statistical population in the qualitative part included faculty members and university lecturers, managers and experts in the field of sports and in the quantitative part included faculty members and sports managers. In the qualitative part, 15 people were needed and in the quantitative part, between 5 and 10 subjects were needed for each question, so 320 people formed a statistical sample. The data collection tool in the qualitative section was semi-structured interview that the results of interviews were designed in the form of a questionnaire with 7 main factors. For content validity, expert’s opinion and construct validity (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis) and combined reliability indicators, Cronbach's alpha, divergent and convergent validation and structural equation modeling were used by SPSS23 and PLS2 software. The fit index of model was reported 0.47 and results confirmed 7 main factors: Systematic approach, compensatory strategy, e-government, NGOs, policy-making of dealing with crisis, crisis governance and media support. Establishing a headquarter of returning to sports under the participatory governance of crisis management and using experienced researchers, managers, and knowledgeable experts are among the practical suggestions of research that can help resilience of sports businesses and reducing the effects of the crisis on them.

The efficiency and success of organizations largely depends on their human resources. Therefore, organizations should also pay attention to the factors that affect the employees and the progress of their organization. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the relationship between organizational justice, organizational citizenship behavior, job stress and work-family conflict in the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs and the National Olympic Committee of Iran. 230 staff of these organizations completed the research measurement scales. In order to investigate the relationships between research variables, structural equation modeling was used using LISREL software. The findings of confirmatory factor analysis showed that organizational justice had a positive and significant effect on organizational citizenship behavior and there was a significant inverse relationship between organizational justice and job stress. An increase in organizational citizenship behavior reduces job stress and the effect of job stress on work-family conflict is significant. And in general, the model has a good fit. In general, it can be concluded that, having a correct and accurate view of the organization and recognizing its influential components by managers and applying the right approach to guide employees can lead the organization to success, and the results of this research can help managers and organizations to achieve this. Therefore, it is suggested that managers of organizations take steps towards the excellence and success of their organization by strengthening justice and organizational citizenship behavior and reducing job stress and work-family conflict.

Today, the traditional marketing approach can no longer meet the needs of the Internet age, especially in the field of sports. On the other hand, Organizations and companies run their businesses with marketing activities and Internet and social networks are the most important tools that marketers use to reach their goals. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of marketing acts in Facebook as one of the most popular social networks on customer satisfaction of sports products.This study is applied in terms of purpose and is descriptive in terms of data collection which was done by survey method. 81 people from the statistical population voluntarily completed the researcher-made questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equations were used to evaluate and test the hypotheses. The Findings showed that Facebook social network had not a significant impact on marketing of sports products and the research model had not a good fit and Marketing through Facebook’s social network had not a good effect on customer satisfaction. According to the current data, the expectation of marketing sports product and customer satisfaction through the Facebook network is not met. Therefore, it is suggested that marketers, in order to achieve their goals, either adapt their marketing strategies and actions to the needs and desires of Facebook users, which according to researches is further entertainment, fun and friendship, or eliminate the use of this social network from their marketing process.

The present study aimed to examine the relationships among core product quality, service quality and spectators’ involvement, in the context of professional football. 840 spectators from ten teams of Iranian pro league of football were selected through stratified-random sampling, and they completed the scales of study, voluntarily. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to evaluate and test hypotheses. The results of the test showed that the research model has appropriate fitness and can be used to evaluate the involvement of football spectators. The effect of the core product quality on the involvement of the spectators was significant, while the quality of services did not have a significant effect on their involvement. Results showed that there is not enough creativity in response to the needs and demands of the spectators from the managers and sports organization. Therefore, if conditions are provided that, along with factors affecting the quality of the core product, the factors that affect the quality of services can also be creatively strengthened, we will undoubtedly see more involvement of consumers.

The main objective of this research was to investigate the empirical relationship between the performance of national sport and national identity of the students. For this purpose, four performance positions were diagnosed, including success while expecting success, success while expecting failure, failure while expecting success, and failure while expecting failure. For national identity also was considered four modes or status: "Self-centered reinforced national identity: national glory, "Self-centered weakened national identity: national shame, Anti-stranger reinforced national identity: national pride, and Anti-stranger weakened national identity: national embarrassment. Content validity was used to determine the validity of the researcher-made questionnaire, and internal consistency reliability and Cronbach's alpha coefficient were used to determine its reliability. The statistical population includes undergraduate and graduate students of Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, 320 of whom were selected using non-proportional stratified sampling method. The results showed that, firstly, the success or failure of national sports in any case, respectively, strengthens or weakens national identity. Second, the double strengthening or weakening of national identity depends on the dominant interpretive framework of national sports performance, so that successes or failures far beyond the expectations of national sports provide the basis for strengthening or weakening national identity more than expected successes or failures. Therefore, the issue of national identity is one of the important issues and dimensions in social life that can be directly affected by the sport performance of national teams.

The aim of this study was to measure spectators’ involvement levels in Iranian pro league of football within the framework of the psychological continuum model. 842 spectators from ten teams of that league were selected through stratified-random sampling, and they completed the assessment scale of Funk’s sports involvement dimensions (2008) voluntarily. According to the involvement dimensions and within the framework of this model, the findings indicated that the lowest and highest involvement levels are respectively related to the levels of awareness (2%) and attachment (78%). The findings of confirmatory factor analysis showed that involvement multi-dimensional model is a useful tool for segmenting spectators based on their involvement levels. The results showed that most spectators are situated at the level of attachment, and the highest level in this model is one’s loyalty, which is defined as his commitment to sport. Therefore, the event managers can achieve spectators’ loyalty by reinforcing attachment.

The purpose of this study was testing the model of spectators’ satisfaction in Premier League of Iranian Football. The research method was descriptive survey with functional purpose. For this purpose 750 spectators from to ten teams of football Premier League were selected as sample. Data collection instrument was a researcher made Scale based on similar studies of Yoshida and James (2010) and Biscaia, et al., (2013). Reliability of research instrument was obtained 0/93 using Cronbach's alpha. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling was used. The results showed that the model has appropriate fitness and can be used to evaluate satisfaction of Football spectators. The overall effect of the game and service satisfaction variables was significant on behavioral intentions. Research Overall results showed that, although the proposed satisfaction model may not fully reflect consumer behavior intentions but the clubs will benefit from spectators perceptions of the quality attributes of sporting events and this information can have a good diagnostic value and good guidance for reform, improvements and enhancements of provided services.

The aim of this study was to survey football talent identification problems. All coaches of the basic football teams of Tehran Asia Vision league in adolescent and youth classes formed the statistical population of this study. 42 coaches were selected as the sample based on Morgan Table. Because there was not a standard questionnaire for this scope, a questionnaire with 5-point Likert scale was designed using the viewpoints of physical education and sport sciences professors and the coaches of basic categories of football national team. The face and content validity of the questionnaire was verified by physical education professors and football coaches and the reliability coefficient was obtained to be 0.86 by Cronbach’s Alpha. After receiving data from the subjects, the data were analyzed based on descriptive and inferential statistics (Friedman Test) by SPSS and EXCEL in order to survey football talent identification problems. The results showed that the most significant problems for football talent identification were: a lack of financial and material facilities for football talent identification, a lack of specialized committees for talent identification in the clubs, a lack of a systematic program for football talent identification, a lack of familiarity with scientific methods of talent identification, a lack of training of experts by relevant organizations for talent identification.