Reza Ameri Siyahouei - M.A in Industrial Management, Departement of Management, Yazd Science and Art University, Yazd, Iran
Shaghayegh Mashayekhi Nezhad - M.A in Industrial Management, Departement of Management, Hormozgan University, Hormozgan, Iran

On the basis of the evidence currently available, it seems fair to say that football, or soccer, isthe most popular sport in various parts of the world including Iran. Persian Gulf Pro League(PGPL) is a professional football league competition for clubs located at the highest level ofthe Iranian football league system. Current research utilizes DEA model to evaluate theperformance of the clubs operating in PGPL 2010-2011. DEA is a nonparametric linearprogramming technique for estimating the efficiency of the units. This paper examines therelative efficiency of the teams in PGPL based on the relationship between their inputs andoutputs. To do so, the input-oriented DEA model is initially used and after recognizing theefficient teams, Anderson-Peterson technique is also employed to rank these teams. At last,the final ranking of the teams in the tenth PGPL is obtained. The results suggest thatMalavan, Zobahan and Mess show the most efficiency.

Efficiency, Football Clubs, Data Envelopment Analysis, Fuzzy Theory, Pro League