ABSTRACT
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. However, regarding referee bias, this study found that only Level 1 teams significantly differed in penalties and that this difference was not evident after analyzing for Bayes factors. Among Level 2 teams, as there was no statistical difference between home and away teams on any parameter indicating referee bias, and all Bayes factors indices were between 3.92-11.15, the null hypothesis was supported. Therefore, the results revealed a HA at both league levels, but a referee bias was not present in either league. This study emphasized that the HA phenomenon is clear and still evident in elite football and sub-elite leagues.
Subject(s)
Soccer , Humans , Bayes TheoremABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This study investigated emotion-performance relationships in rugby union. We identified which emotions rugby players experienced and the extent to which these emotions were associated with performance, considering how emotions unfold over the course of a game, and whether the game was played at home or away. METHODS: Data were gathered from 22 professional male rugby union players using auto-confrontation interviews to help identify situations within games when players experienced intense emotions. We assessed the intensity of emotions experienced before each discrete performance and therefore could assess the emotion-performance relationship within a competition. RESULTS: Players identified experiencing intense emotions at 189 time-points. Experts in rugby union rated the quality of each performance at these 189 time-points on a visual analog scale. A Linear Mixed Effects model to investigate emotion-performance relationships found additive effects of game location, game time, and emotions on individual performance. CONCLUSION: Results showed 7 different pre-performance emotions, with high anxiety and anger associating with poor performance. Future research should continue to investigate emotion-performance relationships during performance using video-assisted recall and use a measure of performance that has face validity for players and coaches alike.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Concussion prevention in the National Football League (NFL) is an important priority for player safety. The NFL now has modified game schedules, and one concern is that unconventional game schedules, such as a shortened rest period due to playing on a Thursday rather than during the weekend, may lead to an increased risk of injuries. HYPOTHESIS: Unconventional game schedules in the NFL are associated with an increased rate of concussion. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiological study. METHODS: This study analyzed concussions and game schedules over the NFL regular seasons from 2012 to 2015 (4 years). Documented numbers of concussions, identified by use of the online database PBS Frontline Concussion Watch, were summarized by regular-season weeks. Association of days of rest and game location (home, away, or overseas) with the rate of concussion was examined by use of the χ2 test. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the relationships of days of rest and home/away games to the risk of repeated concussions, with adjustment for player position. RESULTS: A total of 582 concussions were analyzed in this study. A significantly greater number of concussions occurred in the second half of the season (P < .01). No significant association was found between the rate of concussion and the days of rest, game location, or timing of the bye week by the team or the opponent (P > .05). Game schedules were not significantly associated with the occurrence of repeat concussions (P > .05). CONCLUSION: Unconventional game schedules in the NFL, including playing on Thursday and playing overseas, do not seem to put players at increased risk of concussions.
ABSTRACT
The influence of game location on performance has been widely examined in sport contexts. Concerning soccer, game-location affects positively the secondary and tertiary level of performance; however, there are fewer evidences about its effect on game structure (primary level of performance). This study aimed to detect the effect of game location on a primary level of performance in soccer. In particular, the objective was to reveal the hidden structures underlying the attack actions, in both home and away matches played by a top club (Serie A 2012/2013-First Leg). The methodological approach was based on systematic observation, supported by digital recordings and T-pattern analysis. Data were analyzed with THEME 6.0 software. A quantitative analysis, with nonparametric Mann-Whitney test and descriptive statistics, was carried out to test the hypotheses. A qualitative analysis on complex patterns was performed to get in-depth information on the game structure. This study showed that game tactics were significantly different, with home matches characterized by a more structured and varied game than away matches. In particular, a higher number of different patterns, with a higher level of complexity and including more unique behaviors was detected in home matches than in the away ones. No significant differences were found in the number of events coded per game between the two conditions. THEME software, and the corresponding T-pattern detection algorithm, enhance research opportunities by going further than frequency-based analyses, making this method an effective tool in supporting sport performance analysis and training.
ABSTRACT
O propósito do presente estudo foi verificar a vantagem em casa, considerando a interferência e interação entre local do jogo e qualidade dos times nos aproveitamentos percentuais de vitórias e empates no futebol brasileiro. Dados de 10 anos (1998-2007) do Campeonato Brasileiro da primeira divisão foram considerados, totalizando 3.836 partidas. Para qualificação dos clubes, foi utilizado o primeiro desvio da Curva de Gauss em relação à pontuação obtida, sendo superior a este desvio será classificada como de Alta Qualidade (AQ), entre eles como Média Qualidade (MQ) e inferior como Baixa Qualidade (BQ). Foiobservado que houve efeito do local do jogo (p<0,001; ?2=0,88); os clubes venceram, em média, 25% a mais jogando em casa do que fora. Esse efeito foi menos pronunciado para os times BQ, em relação aos MQ e AQ (p<0,001), com significante efeito do fator qualidade também (?2=0,89). Foi notada interação significante, porém de média força, entre os fatores qualidade vs local do jogo, no aproveitamento de vitórias em casa (p=0,023; ?2=0,13). Houve significante relação entre o local do jogo vs qualidade dos clubes para empates (p<0,001; ?2=0,39), sem nenhuma influência importante desses fatores isoladamente. Os times AQempatam menos em casa do que fora, enquanto o inverso aconteceu para os clubes BQ (p<0,05). Não houve diferença de empates em casa e fora para os times MQ. Conclui-se que o fator local do jogo pode ser atributo de vantagem nos confrontos do Campeonato Brasileiro de futebol da primeira divisão, sendo mais pronunciada quando a qualidade doclube é maior.
The objective of the present study was to evaluate home advantage in Brazilian soccer considering the interference of and interaction between game location and team quality in the percentage of wins and draws. Data from the Brazilian first-division soccer championship comprising a period of 10 years (1998-2007) were analyzed, for a total of 3,836 games. For club qualification the first deviation of the curve of Gauss was used in relation to the punctuation obtained. Clubs presenting a punctuation higher than this deviation were classified as high quality (HQ), clubs with an intermediate punctuation as average quality (AQ), and clubs with a lowerpuncutation as low quality (LQ). There was an effect of game location (p<0.001; ?2=0.88), with clubs playing at home winninng on average 25% more games. This effect was less pronounced for LQ teams compared to AQ and HQ teams (p<0.001), a finding indicating a significant effectof team quality (?2=0.89). A significant, although of medium strength, interaction was observed between team quality and game location for the percentage of wins at home (p=0.023; ?2=0.13). There was also a significant relationship between game location and team quality for draws(p<0.001; ?2=0.39), with no important influence of the individual factors. HQ teams presented fewer draws at home than away, while the opposite was observed for LQ clubs (p<0.05). No difference between draws at home and away was observed for AQ teams. In conclusion, gamelocation is an advantageous factor in Brazilian first-division soccer championship games, with this factor being more pronounced in the case of high quality teams.
