Abstract
Goal celebration in sport is mostly spontaneous and is manifested via vocal expressions and bodily gestures aimed at communicating emotions. The aim of this study is to deconstruct the celebratory acts among elite professional football players in the European Champions League following scoring a goal, and to capture the multiple acts and functions of the celebrations. In examining the 2018/19 season of the European Champions League tournament, we draw attention to the players' celebrations and their corresponding social and individual functions. All goals/celebrations (K = 366) were used for the analyses. To analyze the goal celebration acts, a socio-psychological model was established which is comprised of several theories. To describe the goal celebration acts across the competition stages (e.g., preliminary and final), match location (i.e., home or away), time phase (0-15, 15-45, 45-75, 75-90, 90+ minutes), scoring mode (i.e., prior to the goal, after the goal), and players' continent origin (Europe, Africa, Asia, South/Central, and North America), the number and percent of all the celebratory acts were counted and presented in their respective mode (i.e., single, double, and team). The main findings indicate that (a) most of the goal celebration acts were performed interactively by the scoring player and his teammates, (b) the interactive modes of celebration lasted longer than the modes which were performed non-interactively, (c) the celebration lasted longer following goal scoring in the final stage than in the preliminary stage, (d) the celebration duration lasted the longest time when the goal was scored during the overtime phase (90+ min) of the final but not the preliminary stage, and (e) players from Africa and South America demonstrated religious acts more than their European counterparts. We assert that our conceptual model enables the categorization of a variety of personal and social meanings to the celebrations on the field during the most thrilling moments of the game.
Highlights
Goal celebration is the act of rejoicing at the scoring of a goal
To describe the goal celebration acts across the competition stage, match location, time-phase (0–15, 15–45, 45–75, 75–90, 90+ minutes), scoring mode, and players’ continent origin (Europe, Africa, Asia, South/Central and North America), the number and percent of all the celebration acts were counted and presented in their respective mode
The aim of this paper was to deconstruct the celebratory acts among elite professional football players in the European Champions League following scoring a goal
Summary
Goal celebration is the act of rejoicing at the scoring of a goal. Performed by the scorer, the celebration may include his/her teammates, the team manager, the coaching staff, and/or the followers of the team. The term can refer to the celebration of a goal in general, as well as to specific actions such as a player removing his shirt, thanking God, or performing a somersault. The moments following the scoring of a goal in professional football (soccer) are filled with enthusiastic bodily gestures and unbridled joy. In 1982 FIFA (The Federation Internationale de Football Association) issued guidelines that the ‘exuberant outbursts of several players at once jumping on top of each other, kissing and embracing, should be banned from the football pitch’. In 1996 FIFA was forced to back down, revising their guidelines to allow ‘reasonable celebration’ but warning that ‘choreographed celebrations’ were not to be encouraged
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