Strategic Crisis Management Framework for Professional Sports Organizations in the Context of Geopolitical Conflicts

ABSTRACT In recent years, the intensification of geopolitical conflicts has exposed professional sports organizations to multi‐level, cross‐border crises with external origins. The present study aimed to develop a context‐sensitive strategic crisis management framework for professional sports organizations in the context of geopolitical conflicts, using the Iranian professional football context as a theoretically informative case. This research employed a sequential exploratory mixed‐methods design (qualitative–quantitative). Data were collected from library studies (systematic literature review and official statements) and field studies (semi‐structured interviews with 18 experts). Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019) with MAXQDA software. In the second phase, the Fuzzy Delphi technique was used to assess expert‐perceived importance and consensus regarding the extracted components. The findings led to the identification of a three‐stage framework (pre‐crisis, crisis response, post‐crisis) comprising 6 main themes, 15 sub‐themes, and 44 primary codes. In the pre‐crisis stage, “Structural Preparedness” was identified as the most important factor based on expert‐perceived importance. During the crisis response stage, “Club Media Narrative Management” had the highest expert‐perceived importance. In the post‐crisis stage, “Organizational Learning” was evaluated as the most important factor based on expert consensus. The proposed framework can serve as a context‐sensitive analytical heuristic for professional sports organizations to enhance resilience, maintain legitimacy, and ensure continuity of operations during geopolitical conflicts.