Abstract
This 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.
Highlights
Soccer is a team sport where two teams dynamically compete in space and time to gain an advantage over the opposing team; the game is mediated by the referee and the assistant referees that ensure players perform under the rules [1]
Assistant referees cover ~6760 m, from which ~1540 m result from sidewards movements while attempting to follow the ball and defensive players positioning [4,5]. Both for referees and assistant referees, the amount of distance covered is affected by contextual factors, such as competitive standard [3,5]. These findings provide vital information to assist in designing and planning training interventions that allow soccer referees and assistant referees to cope with the match physical demands
The present study aimed to explore new metrics to understand soccer referees’ inmatch positioning, the relation with the ball displacement, and the assistant referees’ relation regardless of the teams’ last defensive line
Summary
Soccer is a team sport where two teams dynamically compete in space and time to gain an advantage over the opposing team; the game is mediated by the referee and the assistant referees that ensure players perform under the rules [1]. Assistant referees cover ~6760 m, from which ~1540 m result from sidewards movements while attempting to follow the ball and defensive players positioning [4,5]. Both for referees and assistant referees, the amount of distance covered is affected by contextual factors, such as competitive standard [3,5]. Overall, these findings provide vital information to assist in designing and planning training interventions that allow soccer referees and assistant referees to cope with the match physical demands
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