Talent Selectıon in Sport With Multi-Criteria Decision Making Methods: TOPSIS and VIKOR Comparison

Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods refer to a successful system used in various fields. Developed to facilitate the decision-maker's task, this system employs qualitative and quantitative methods by weighting criteria in a setting with a large number of alternatives. Similarly, the talent selection process in sports is based on making a decision by interpreting the different skills of many athletes in accordance with the appropriate discipline. However, during this process, errors can occur in preferences due to overlooked minor details or when athletes cannot have the opportunity to present themselves. MCDM methods provide an opportunity in this regard by blending athletes' quantitative data with their qualitative values in order to minimize errors. Thus, in this study, TOPSIS and VIKOR among MCDM methods were applied to the same athletes’ data by using common criteria weights, and athletes were ranked from the best to the worst option. While TOPSIS method ranking has the score distribution between 0.731 and 0.116, VIKOR method has the score distribution between 0.091 (closest to 0) and 0.488 (closest to 1). While there was a 10% exact match between the two methods, it was observed that three alternatives (B, G, and F) changed places (B,G,F) by 3 ranks and other three alternatives (C, D, and J) by 2 ranks. The results of the ranking revealed differences in the rankings of the two methods, but the most significant discrepancies were observed in the middle ranges.