Scoring Social Responsibility: The ISO 26000 Approach in Iranian Professional Football

Atghia, Nahid; Nazarian, Ali; Khorasani, Abasalt; Niknam Shiri, Zahra

doi:10.22103/jnssm.2026.25740.1402

Scoring Social Responsibility: The ISO 26000 Approach in Iranian Professional Football

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Nahid Atghia ¹

Ali Nazarian ²

Abasalt Khorasani ³

Zahra Niknam Shiri ⁴

¹ Corresponding Author, Department of Sport Management, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.

² Departmant of sport management

³ Department of Science of Education, Faculty of Science of education and psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Evin Street, Tehran, Iran.

⁴ Department of Sport Management, Sport Sciences faculty, Alzahra University, Vanak Street, Tehran, Iran.

10.22103/jnssm.2026.25740.1402

Abstract

In recent years, social responsibility (SR) has become a standard practice within economic and industrial sectors; however, its application in football and sports remains limited. This study investigates the implementation of ISO 26000 SR indicators across four professional clubs in the Iranian Premier League during the 2022-2023 season. Data were gathered via a questionnaire based on ISO 26000 standards. The one-sample t-test in SPSS assessed the status of SR dimensions, while Smart PLS software evaluated their relative importance. Findings reveal that most SR dimensions performed at an acceptable level within the clubs, except for the environmental dimension, which fell below average. The labor practices dimension emerged as the strongest contributor to the clubs’ overall social responsibility. Based on these insights, it is recommended that club executives integrate SR into their strategic frameworks. Additionally, due to the weak environmental responsibility performance, leveraging prominent players as advocates for energy conservation and environmental awareness is advised.

Keywords

Sustainable Performance

Stakeholder Engagement

Energy Conservation

Social Awareness

Football

Subjects