Referee football

INTRODUCTION: To enhance players' performance and implement effective injury prevention protocols and surveillance programs in football, it is essential to conduct epidemiological studies. Since significant disparities in injury rates across various football competitions were reported, it is important to characterize injuries in the context of the African cup of nation (AFCON) competition. AIM: To determine the incidence and factors associated with injuries among African footballers during the 2024 AFCON competition, which will be held in Ivory Coast from January 13 to February 11, 2024...

Similar to conventional football, the modality dedicated to footballers with cerebral palsy (CP) requires referees who cope with the physical demands imposed during competitive matches to apply the rules of the game. While a significant body of research has explored the physical demands on referees in mainstream football, there is a noticeable lack of data regarding CP football. This study aimed to examine the physical response of international referees participating in different levels of world competitions for footballers with CP...

Gesture serves as a crucial means of communication between individuals and between humans and machines. In football matches, referees communicate judgment information through gestures. Due to the diversity and complexity of referees' gestures and interference factors, such as the players, spectators, and camera angles, automated football referee gesture recognition (FRGR) has become a challenging task. The existing methods based on visual sensors often cannot provide a satisfactory performance. To tackle FRGR problems, we develop a deep learning model based on YOLOv8s...

There has been little work examining the intricacies of what makes a soccer referee successful. The aim of this study was to determine what the definition of a successful referee performance is and what are the characteristics of a successful referee from a broad range of stakeholders in Major League Soccer (MLS) and the Professional Referees Organisation (PRO). The study used Delphi methodology to ask 6 MLS General Managers, 2 MLS Coaches,1 MLS League Officer, 4 PRO Referees and 10 PRO Assistant Referees, 8 PRO Staff and 5 PRO Assessors, and 2 PRO2 Referees two questions: 1...

The success and enjoyment of a football match depend heavily on referees and their ability to ensure fair play and uphold the rules of the game. However, there is limited research investigating the disciplinary measures and booking activities of referees in top European football leagues. In the current investigation, we explored the disciplinary measures and booking activities of top-European football league referees. The dataset of the referee activities concerning 15 indicators containing 602 matches from five consecutive seasons across the five top European leagues, namely, the English Premier League, Spanish Laliga, Italian Serie A, French Ligue1, and German Bundesliga were utilized for this study...

INTRODUCTION: In the current experiment, we aimed to evaluate whether eliciting pre-exercise non-thermal cooling sensations would alter perceptual measures, and physical and physiological responses in football referees. METHODS: Nine highly trained male football referees undertook two 45-minute intermittent exercise protocols in hot and humid conditions (34.2 ± 0.6°C, 62.5 ± 1.0% relative humidity). In a randomized counterbalanced crossover design, 1 of 2 beverages were given before the warm-up: a 0...

BACKGROUND: This study analyzed how Video Assistant Referee (VAR), introduced to improve the accuracy of referee decisions in football, changes the magnitude and direction of home advantage and referee bias in the Turkish Super League. METHODS: We analyzed points, goals, yellow cards and red cards, fouls, penalties, and offside data from 1,838 matches played in the Turkish Super League with and without VAR. Two-sample t-tests and two one-sided tests analysis were applied to determine the differences between the home and away team data between the seasons played with and without VAR...

The future of football demands more from players and referees due to heightened match intensity and frequency. To optimize performance and health, collaboration among sport scientists, coaches, and medical staff is crucial. However, match officials often lack the same support as elite players, hindering their development. Granting professional status to referees, implementing evidence-based training, and adopting gender-inclusive methods are vital. Coping with future challenges requires better career support and economic conditions for officials, along with research to enhance their performance and health...

The VAR has introduced a new element to football. Before, a decision to award a penalty kick could not be reversed. The player taking the penalty could take it relatively quickly after the referee called the foul. After the introduction of the VAR, every penalty kick decision is replayed by the VAR and also quite often reviewed on-field. As a consequence, time between the initial decision by the referee and the actual penalty kick has increased substantially. We examined the influence of the time-interval duration between the foul and the actual penalty kick on the conversion probability using a logit model...

The purpose of the paper is to check whether the introduction of the VAR system mitigated the referee bias against away teams. The dataset comprises 2279 matches played in the first tier of the Brazilian League from 2016 to 2021. We analyze 6 seasons of the first tier of the Brazilian domestic football league- 3 seasons before and 3 seasons after the introduction of the VAR technology. Potential bias is viewed through the lens of yellow cards, red cards and number of penalties awarded for both home and away clubs...

This review aimed to (1) analyze whether the home advantage was diminished; (2) investigate the impact of the crowds' support on the match outcome and team performance; (3) explore the bias of the referee without crowds. Based on the PRISMA 2020 (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) guidelines, this systematic review searched of literature was conducted in December 2022. The keywords related to soccer, COVID-19 and home advantage were used. The search returned 135 articles. After screening the records against set criteria, 28 articles were analyzed...

This research was conducted to design an interpretive structural model of factors affecting the prevention and control of violence and aggression in football fans. The statistical population of this study was entirely composed of sport experts, executive managers, sociologists, and management professors in Iran. Thirteen individuals were accordingly selected as the research sample using non-probability purposeful sampling. The effective factors were identified through library study and reviewing the theoretical foundations and research background...

INTRODUCTION: Body composition is an important predictor of performance and a key component of health and physical fitness. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to compare soccer referees of the first and second divisions and field assistant referees from Iran and to analyze associations of a body shape index (ABSI), body adiposity index (BAI), abdominal volume index (AVI), body roundness index (BRI), conicity index (ConI), and body mass index (BMI) with body fat percentage (%BF)...

Home advantage (HA) and referee bias are two important phenomena in football (soccer) and are frequently investigated by researchers. This study focused on analyzing HA and referee bias at different league levels. The study included 632 matches played in Turkey's top two leagues during the 2022-2023 season. Both leagues showed statistically significant game outcome differences between home and away teams regarding points, goals, shots, shots on target, passes, accurate passes, and ball possessions, indicating a HA...

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationships between physical fitness and physical performance in competition and the decision-making (successes and errors). A sample of 22 male national-level soccer referees (weight: 72.7 kg; height: 178.0 cm; age: 23.4 years) participated in this study. Physical fitness was assessed through 6 series of 40 m (velocity) and Yo-yo (aerobic) test in annual exam by Soccer Committee, physical performance was performed through the total distance covered in competition (Experiment 1), and decision-making was registered through a simulated Video Assistant Referee system (VAR) with the consensus of 2 national referees evaluating only warnings (yellow cards), expulsions (red cards), established penalties and obvious goal actions (called and no called) (Experiments 2 and 3)...

The purpose of this study was to understand the contribution of each performance indicator to evaluate match performance of football referees. Thirty-four elite Referee Match Observers (RMOs) from the Portuguese FA participated voluntarily in the study. From the official assessment sheet of each game, the referee's game score was categorized in two groups according to referee's game score: i) Referees with a Low Score (LFS) and ii) Referees with High Score (HFS). A multivariable binary logistic regression model was used to assess the relationship between the Performance Indicators (PIs) of the dimensions i) game difficulty and game intervention and ii) disciplinary actions and game management in relation to the referee's match assessment score...

BACKGROUND: Within professional European competitions, matches can be played in extreme environmental temperatures, ranging from -5 °C to +30 °C in different countries. Furthermore, the World Cups are usually played in the summer months, when temperatures can exceed 35 °C, increasing physiological stress. Practical and cost-effective cooling strategies may be implemented to help players and referees to cope with exercising in the heat. No study has evaluated the effect of non-thermal internal cooling techniques regarding performance responses on elite football referees, so far...

The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly altered the way sporting events are observed. With the absence or limited presence of spectators in stadiums, the traditional advantage enjoyed by home teams has diminished considerably. This underscores the notion that the support of home fans can often be considered a key factor of the home advantage (HA) phenomenon, wherein teams perform better in front of their own supporters. However, the impact of reduced attendance on games with higher stakes, as opposed to low-stakes friendly matches, remains uncertain...

This paper examines the effect of spectators on women's football games. COVID-19 and related restrictions provide a unique opportunity with an adequate sample size to test the effect of lockdown on sports activities. Studies have recently exploited this opportunity for men's football to better understand the potential causes of home advantage and, more specifically, assess the psychological consequences when matches are played without supporters. Despite the increased scientific interest, there was only one paper that focused on women's football...

The purpose of this study was to compare the activity profile of elite Gaelic football referees (GFR) between the National Football League (NFL) and the All-Ireland Championship (AIC), and across the four divisions of the NFL and three phases of the AIC. Match activity data was collected during 125 NFL and 201 AIC games using 10-Hz global positioning system technology from 41 elite GFR. Game duration, total distance, very low speed movement (<0.70 m. s-1 ), walking (≥0.70-1.65 m. s-1 ), low-speed running (≥1...