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- The effects of the 2020–2021 Coronavirus pandemic change-event on football refereeing: evidence from the Israeli and Portuguese leaguesPublication . Samuel, Roy David; Pina, João Aragão E; Galily, Yair; Travassos, Bruno; Hochman, Guy; Figueiredo, Pedro; Tenenbaum, GershonUpon the emergence of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic (CP), football referees were forced to cope with the interruption of leagues and experience quarantines, with a potential threat to their physical and psychological well-being. This study examined referees’ perceptions of the CP change-event, particularly the effects on refereeing engagement and performance, in part to facilitate more effective support. For this study, an online inventory was circulated during January–February 2021 to 198 referees and assistants from Israel and Portugal, asking them to reflect on the CP in the context of their careers, and the potential effects on theirrefereeing engagement and performance. The results indicated that the CP was perceived as a moderate change-event in terms of significance, severity, and coping, although many participants didconsider it as significant. The participants indicated just a minor reduction in their refereeing quality between the 2019–2020 and the 2020–2021 seasons. The main areas affected were training on agrass field, decision-making training, and financial status. Still, refereeing instruction (conducted mainly online) improved. The behavioural effects were more forceful among the nonprofessional referees, suggesting that Referee Associations must pay closer attention to support these populations. The participants’ motivation, refereeing identity, and self-efficacy were actually improved. Finally, the absence of the crowd in matches allowed the referees to be more aware of their actions and better communicate with players and coaches, which related to better performance. These findings further emphasize the social aspect of football refereeing and the importance of having upright management and communication skills.
- Match Analysis of Soccer Refereeing Using Spatiotemporal Data: A Case StudyPublication . Gonçalves, Bruno; Coutinho, Diogo; Travassos, Bruno; Brito, João; Figueiredo, PedroThis case study explored how spatiotemporal data can develop key metrics to evaluate and understand elite soccer referees’ performance during one elite soccer match. The dynamic position of players from both teams, the ball and three elite referees allowed to capture the following performance metrics: (i) assistant referees: alignment with the second last defender; (ii) referee: referee diagonal movement—a position density was computed and a principal component analysis was carried to identify the directions of greatest variability; and (iii) referee: assessing the distance from the referee to the ball. All computations were processed when the ball was in-play and separated by 1st and 2nd halves. The first metric showed an alignment lower than 1 m between the assistant referee and the second last defender. The second metric showed that in the 1st half, the referee position ellipsis area was 548 m2, which increased during the 2nd half (671 m2). The third metric showed an increase in the distance from the referee to the ball and >80% of the distance between 5–30 m during the 2nd half. The findings may be used as a starting point to elaborate normative behavior models from the referee’s movement performance in soccer.