Challenges of Financial Management in Iranian Premier League clubs

Professional clubs, which are the main pillar of the sports industry, have not been able to become completely professional in the Iranian state economy. The arrival of government and political managers who are not well aware of the specific features of the sports industry has complicated the financial situation for Iranian football clubs; Iranian professional clubs rely on government resources and bear the exorbitant cost of their financial inefficiency on the government every year. Thus, there is a strong need to get out of this situation.The aim of this study was to identify the challenges of financial management in Iranian professional clubs.The present study is an exploratory research that has been done using a qualitative approach. The present study population consists of experts familiar with the subject of research. Participants were selected for interviews by two methods of targeted and reputational case sampling; Until the theoretical saturation was reached, ۱۴ people with qualifications in the field of research (sample size) were interviewed. Data analysis was performed using directional content analysis method in ۷ steps.after performing various stages of content analysis, all final concepts (۴۴ concepts) were categorized and integrated into ۶ higher-level categories in terms of abstraction; Based on the results, six main challenges for the financial management of Iranian football clubs were identified, which are: the nature of the football industry; Political challenge; Economic challenge; Cultural challenge; Fanatics and economic governance of the Football League Organization.Given the poor financial situation in Iranian football clubs, it is essential that club managers be aware of the challenges of financial management in the context of their macro activities so that they can prevent them from becoming a threat and, if possible, turn them into opportunities; Also, there is a need for government leaders and senior decision makers to pave the way for the growth of the football industry in the country, to provide the necessary platform for effective financial management and thus the self-sufficiency of clubs.