Investigating the Role of Agents in the Transfer of Football Players

The purpose of this study was to analyze the role of player's agents in the domestic transfer of football players.

The research method was descriptive-analytical which was performed by field method and was applied in terms of purpose. The study population included all football players present in the Persian Gulf Premier League. Using Cochran's formula, 226 people were selected by stratified random sampling. The research measurement tool included a researcher-made questionnaire whose content validity, while carefully reviewing the texts and literature of the research, was confirmed by a survey of experts familiar with the field of research (8 people). Other internal consistency indices such as composite reliability, mean extractive variance, maximum common variance and average common variance were examined and confirmed. Also, descriptive statistics methods (mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics methods (exploratory factor analysis and second-order confirmatory factor analysis) were used to analyze the data.

Findings showed that the most important role of sports agents and brokers in the transferring and pricing the football players respectively include the role of negotiator (0.90), the role of marketer (0.86), the role of lawyer (0.84), Organizer (0.79), accountant (0.75) and supporting one (0.65).

In general, it should be acknowledged that according to the opinions of the statistical sample, the activities of football players' agents are not completely similar, and their previous and diverse work experience often allows them to play different roles.