the barriers to the development of sport cooperatives in iran professional sport with an emphasis on article 44

the purpose of this study was to investigate and to analyze the barriers to the development of sport cooperatives in iran professional sport with an emphasis on article 44. as this study was qualitative, elites and experts were qualitatively interviewed to identify the most important barriers to the development of sport cooperatives. the sample consisted of those subjects who provided the most relevant data (35 interviews and 26 subjects). based on the common procedures of qualitative researches, data were obtained and analyzed simultaneously. results showed that the barriers to the development of sport cooperatives were divided into two general groups; first group were general barriers in the cooperative sector in economic environment of the country; second group were specific barriers to the development of sport cooperatives in professional sport. the most recognized barriers included: varied and inconsistent rules for cooperatives, weak structure of governmental cooperatives, lack of definite rules for the activity of sport cooperatives, absence of clear definition of ownership of cooperative clubs, lack of cooperative culture and corporate ownership in professional sport clubs, and disbelief of some experts and specialists in the efficiency of cooperative sector in professional sport.