systematic review of published articles related to iran's sports diplomacy (2012-2023)

Purpose: so far, numerous studies have been conducted in the field of sports diplomacy. in the present study, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview of studies from the year2012to2023. this article aimed to systematically review the studies in the field of sports diplomacy in iran that have been published from2012to2023. methods: a qualitative research method has been employed, and the objective of the study was practical. this research is a secondary systematic review approach. the research was conducted on articles published in scientific research journals throughout the country from 2012to2023, totaling133articles extracted from databases.the articles were reviewed based on their general structural, functional, and referential aspects. results: the research findings indicate that the trend of published articles exhibits an upward trajectory within the specified timeframe, with the majority of articles published in thestrategic studies of sports and youth journal totaling21articles, followed by the sports management studies journal with 17articles. of the reviewed articles, approximately62%were published in sports journals, while about 38% were published in non-sports journals. conclusion: the reviewed articles addressed the functional aspects of the relationship between diplomacy and sports, the research concepts, and the type of diplomacy employed in the research. upon examining the articles, we found that approximately74%of the conducted research explored the two-way relationship between sports and diplomacy. the results of the research indicated that in the period of time, the research has been reduced to concepts such as sports washing, sports governance, using sports to cover defects, and most of the researches were related to concepts such as improving international relations and the goals of the political class of countries.