A Qualitative Study of Barriers to Faraja Employees' Participation in Public Sports (Case Study: Employees of East Azerbaijan Province)

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student in Physical Education, Sport Management, Islamic Azad University, Miyaneh Branch

2 Assistant Professor of Physical Education Group, Islamic Azad University, Miyaneh Branch, Miyaneh, Iran

3 Assistant Professor of Physical Education, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan Branch, Zanjan, Iran

10.22034/sls.2026.70957.1622

Abstract

In a sensitive and stressful organization like Faraja, paying attention to public sports is doubly important. However, evidence suggests that the participation rate of Faraja staff in public sports is not at a desirable level. Therefore, identifying the barriers to the participation of Faraja employees in public sports is an undeniable necessity. This research is applied in terms of purpose and qualitative in terms of data collection method, which has been done using the grounded theory method. The statistical population of the study consisted of employees working in the police departments of East Azerbaijan province in 2025. Sampling was continued by purposive and theoretical method until theoretical saturation and finally 29 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data analysis was performed in three stages: open, axial, and selective coding. The findings of the research indicate that the barriers to the participation of Faraja employees in public sports are: imbalance between work and personal life, lack of intrinsic motivation and lack of interest in sports, lack of knowledge of the benefits of sports for all, lack of organizational culture supporting sports and lack of purposeful planning for employees' sports, inadequate physical infrastructure,

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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 03 June 2026
  • Receive Date: 28 December 2025
  • Revise Date: 05 February 2026
  • Accept Date: 03 June 2026
  • Publish Date: 03 June 2026