Identifying the Components of a Financial Management Model in Iranian Professional Clubs: A Case Study of Football

Hashem Sadeghi; Seyyed Abbas Biniaz; Mahdi Naderinasab; Mokhtar Nasiri Farsani; Elham Attari

Authors

Hashem Sadeghi Phd Student of Sport Management, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Qa.C., Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9701-1383
Seyyed Abbas Biniaz Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Qa.C., Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9934-6874
Mahdi Naderinasab Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Qa.C., Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6226-2995
Mokhtar Nasiri Farsani Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Qa.C., Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6735-5047
Elham Attari Assistant professor, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Qa.C., Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3724-942X

Keywords:

Financial Management, Professional Football Clubs, grounded theory, Financial Sustainability, Economic Governance, Revenue Generation, Bank Melli Iran

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the components and develop a paradigmatic model of financial management in Iranian professional football clubs. This qualitative exploratory study was conducted using the systematic grounded theory approach within an interpretive paradigm. Participants were selected through purposive and theoretical sampling from experts with academic or professional experience in sport management, financial management, sport economics, professional football club administration, football governance, marketing, budgeting, and sport law. Sixteen experts participated in the study, and theoretical saturation was reached in the fifteenth interview, with one additional interview conducted to confirm saturation. Data were collected through in-depth, open-ended, semi-structured interviews lasting approximately 60–100 minutes and were complemented by relevant documentary and scholarly sources. Interview transcripts were analyzed concurrently with data collection through open, axial, and selective coding, constant comparison, memo writing, and theoretical integration. Credibility and trustworthiness were strengthened through member checking, peer review, audit documentation, prolonged engagement with the data, and comparison of emerging categories with the original interview material. The core phenomenon of financial management comprised financial sustainability, economic governance, and commercial development. Causal conditions included institutional ownership and financial discipline; contextual conditions consisted of club-management infrastructure and the football environment; and intervening conditions included market pressure and external constraints. The principal strategies were financial reform, including accurate budgeting, debt control, and monitoring systems, and innovative revenue generation through supporter commercialization and long-term financial partnerships. The consequences of implementing the model were economic stability and organizational credibility, reflected in improved financial health, stronger commercial capacity, greater stakeholder trust, and enhanced competitive position. Financial management in Iranian professional football clubs is a multidimensional phenomenon that requires simultaneous reform of governance, cost control, financial transparency, revenue diversification, commercial development, and stakeholder-oriented strategies within the specific institutional and economic conditions of Iranian football.