Uncorrected Proof J Arch Mil Med. 2023 March; 11(1):e132655. Published online 2023 March 27. https://doi.org/10.5812/jamm-132655. Research Article Investigating the Role of Sport in Sustainable Environmental Development: A Case Study Hosein Dastbarhagh 1, * , Mohammad Sadegh Afroozeh 2 , Younes Mohammadzadeh 3 and Arash Fadam 4 1 Department of Faculty of Physical Education, Islamic Azad University of Jahrom, Jahrom, Iran 2 Department of Faculty of Physical Education, Jahrom University, Jahrom, Iran 3 Department of Faculty of Physical Education, Zand Institute of Higher Education, Shiraz, Iran 4 Department of Faculty of Physical Education, Islamic Azad University of Jahrom, Shiraz, Iran * Corresponding author: Department of Faculty of Physical Education, Islamic Azad University of Jahrom, Jahrom, Iran. Email: hosein.dast@yahoo.com Received 2022 December 20; Accepted 2023 February 28. Abstract Background: Sport can impact the protection of the environment and energy. Sports activities could gather people in one place, which may negatively affect the environment, such as noise pollution, antisocial behaviors, waste, air pollution, and sharp lighting. Objectives: This paper aims to investigate the role of sport in sustainable environmental development. This applied-developmental study utilized an exploratory qualitative method to collect data. Methods: The statistical population included all top managers of sports organizations (including the National Olympic Commit- tee, Ministry of Sports, and all sports federations), specialists and experts in sport management in Iran, and some managers of the Iranian Department of Environment. Thirteen experts were selected using the purposive sampling method and snowballing tech- nique. The semi-structured interview was used as a data collection tool. Data analysis was done with grounded theory through open, axial, and selective coding. Results: The results indicated that the pattern of sustainable environmental development based on the sport consists of 211 con- cepts and 26 subcategories. Categories 4, 4, 5, 8, and 4 were related to the causal factors, the fields, and domains, mediating variables, strategies, and consequences, respectively, and one category was also considered an axial phenomenon. Adequacy measure of the research process and quality of dataand interpretations was approved based on credibility, transferability, dependability, confirma- bility, honesty, and data-derived theory criteria, including conformity, comprehensiveness, generality, and controllability. Conclusions: According to the results from the model, the sustainable environmental development based on the sport is affected by foresight, environmental values of sport, environmental requirements of the sport, green sports movement, educational and research factors, communication and promotional elements, economics, structural factors, and organizational factors, which can lead to green productivity in sports and the quality of life and well-being of citizens. Keywords: Environment, Green Productivity, Sustainable Development, Green Sports Movement 1. Background Many residents of urban areas who hope to access recreational and sports facilities do not desire to live near these facilities (1). In The Olympic Games, the largest hu- man and sporting event worldwide, environment protec- tion and green space design have been emphasized, so the Sydney Olympics in 2000 was recognized by observ- ing these principles (2). This means that each sports or- ganization can play an important role in the environment among the actors of the community (consumers, indus- try, local communities, sports organizations, government agencies, etc.) (3). More clearly, sports organizations are made up of different people who, in turn, have responsi- bilities towards environmental issues; for example, sports managers should be aware of the importance of environ- mental issues and take it into account in their planning and teach the athletes to communicate with the environ- ment initially (4). All athletes, from low-level ones to the champions, significantly affect society. They can encour- age other athletes, especially youth, to adopt the appropri- ate behavior towards the environment due to their posi- tions (5, 6). Spectators, as one of the main elements of sports, the athlete and the coach have extra significance in the rela- tionship between the environment and sports. When they Copyright © 2023, Journal of Archives in Military Medicine. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cited.