مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - INVESTIGATING THE CURRENT AND IDEAL SITUATIONS OF THE TALENT IDENTIFICATION PROCESS IN IRANIAN FOOTBALL FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF IRANIAN INSTRUCTORS OF ASIAN FOOTBALL CONFEDERATION (AFC)

Abstract :

The aim of this study was to investigate the current and ideal situations of the process of talent identification in Iranian football from the point of view of Iranian instructors of Asian Football Confederation (AFC). This research was a descriptive-analytical study; in data collection phase, Doostdari et al. (2012)’s questionnaire was used, whose face validity was confirmed by experts of Physical Education and Sports Science. The reliability of questionnaire was estimated through the use of Cronbach s alpha method (0.91). This study involved 122 participants of Iranian instructors of Asian Football Confederation who were selected based on stratified random sampling method. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the variables and inferential statistics (Chi-square) were used to test the hypotheses of the study at significant level (p ≤ 0.05). The results of Chi-square test related to the point of view of Iranian instructors of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) showed that the grass-roots scientific method was the best way to identify football players (0.001), less than 10 years old were the best ages for talent identification (0.001), Football Federation was revealed to be the most important organization in talent identification (0.002), clubs were shown to be the most important institution in developing talents (0.001), trained scouts of Football Federation were demonstrated to be the best and most appropriate group for talent identification (0.001), and being referred by the football academy coaches was shown to be the best way to attract talented football players in Iran (0.001). It was also found that there was a huge difference between the current and ideal situations of the process of talent identification in Iranian football from the point of view of Iranian instructors of Asian Football Confederation. Hence, it is recommended that the policy makers of talent identification for Iranian football provide a comprehensive, clear and systematic model of talent identification and development processes for the clubs and football teams, so that the talent identification process helps nurturing football talents more efficiently.