Top League Research Articles

The Epidemiology of Injuries in Spanish Rugby Union División de Honor.

Background: We describe and analyze injury incidence, severity, cause of injury, anatomical location, damaged tissue, injury recurrence, and the time and place at which injuries occur over the course of a season. Methods: An observational, descriptive, prospective, nomothetic, and multidimensional study was conducted during the 2018–2019 season with 258 players of the top semiprofessional rugby league in Spain (División de Honor de Rugby). Data were reported by the clubs’ medical services. Reported time-loss injuries were collected. Results: Overall exposure was 4100 h (137 matches), over 35 weeks of competition. A total of 288 injuries were reported, with three of these leading to withdrawal from the sport. A total average of 35.63 days was lost to injury. Overall time-loss injury incidence was 3.41 injuries/1000 h of exposure. Backs suffered 119 injuries corresponding to 3.80 injuries/1000 h of exposure, whilst forwards suffered 169 injuries with 4.27 injuries/1000 h of exposure. Severe injuries were the most frequent injury type. Conclusions: Outcomes confirm that more injuries take place during competition, with these also being more severe in nature. Contact injuries were most frequently suffered, above all, due to tackling or being tackled.

Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in the New Life With COVID-19: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study in Japan Rugby Top League Players.

Objectives: The primary objective is to compare the prevalence of mental health problems, including psychological distress, anxiety and depressive symptoms in Japan Rugby Top League players in the new life with COVID-19 with those evaluated before COVID-19. Methods: An observational comparative web-based cross-sectional study was employed for Japan Rugby Top League players. We compared the data from 220 Japanese and 7 foreign players during the new life with COVID-19 with the data from before COVID-19, which was obtained from 233 Japanese and 18 foreign players. We measured anxiety and depression symptoms with the validated Kessler-6, which has been widely used in clinical and research settings among different populations. To investigate the distribution of K6 score and whether there are discrete clusters or not, we conducted the two-step cluster analysis. Results: In the new life with COVID-19, 15.0% of players reported mild symptoms, which was significantly lower than the 32.3% of players before COVID-19. The prevalence of moderate and severe symptoms was 6.7 and 3.5%, respectively, in the group during the new life with the COVID-19, and 4.8 and 5.2% in the pre-COVID-19 group, with no significant difference. A two-step cluster analysis supported the existence of these two qualitatively different clusters in both groups. Conclusions: With the spread of new lifestyles related to COVID-19, some rugby players may have improved mental health status due to changes in their daily living environment. Such environmental adjustments alone may not have been sufficient to change the mental health status of others. Rugby players or their teams may require mental health professionals and systems that ensure rest, adjust the environment, and sustainably provide more professional care.

Prevalence of COVID-19 symptoms and RT-PCR tests among professional football players of Iran two top leagues

Background: Following the resumption of football training and competitions during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it was necessary to tighten up the hygiene protocol and impose restrictions such as prohibiting spectators from entering stadiums and the detection of positive disease cases, particularly among sub clinically infected players. The purpose of our study was to find out how common COVID-19 is among professional football players and to see if regular PCR testing and symptom recording are adequate screening methods in football.Study design: A cross-sectional retrospective study was used as the study design.Method: Periodic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing are used to evaluate athletes and other involved people for breaks in the transmission chain and to preserve their health. From March to November 2020, 784 players from Iran's prime and second division leagues participated in this study. The symptoms of the participants, as well as the results of the PCR testing, were recorded.Results: The results showed that 107 cases (13.6%) had positive PCR tests, with 52 Premier League players (10.4%) and 55 second-tier League players among them (19.3 percent). 41.1 percent of individuals who had positive PCR testing were symptom-free, while 17.5 percent of those who tested negative experienced at least one symptom. Myalgia was the most commonly reported symptom among symptomatic participants (7%).Conclusion: Due to the large number of asymptomatic patients, we advocate combining a periodic PCR test with serologic tests for the diagnosis of COVID-19 in football players to improve diagnostic accuracy.

The Difference Between Winners and Losers in Balanced Handball Games in the Final 10 Minutes

The objectives of this study are to analyze handball game-related statistics in balanced games (0-2 goal dif- ference at minute 50) in the final 10 minutes regarding the final outcome of winning or losing. i) Analyse statistical differences between winners and losers in male and female top Icelandic handball leagues and ii) calculate a discriminating model for performance variables for both male and female top Icelandic handball leagues. The game-related statistics from the final 10 minutes of 127 games from two seasons (85 male and 42 female) with a goal difference of two or fewer at minute 50 were analyzed. The internal consistency and reliability ranged from good to excellent for the games of both sexes. Differences between winning or losing for each sex were determined using the unpaired t-test or Mann-Whitney U test, and Cohens d for effect sizes was calculated. The results for males include four variables with large effect sizes and six with significant dif- ferences. The discriminatory model selected technical fouls and goalkeeper blocked shots from 9 m to classify 40.4% correctly (Wilks’ lambda 0.005, and canonical correlation of 0.997). For females, findings align with pre- vious research underscoring the importance of 9 m shots at goal at this level. However, they differ somewhat from full game statistics at the elite level with no difference in red cards and 7 m shots. Coaches should pay particular attention in tactical preparation to shots outside 9 m – both offensively and defensively in balanced games in the final 10 minutes.

機械学習と慣性センサによるラグビー選手のタックル動作抽出

In the top league of rugby, players are worn with IMU sensors that record their kinematic characteristics, and they are searching for effective ways to utilize the data. We focus on tackling motions and aim to develop an AI that extracts and evaluates signals corresponding to tackling motions from the signals measured by inertial sensors. This study analyzed wearable IMU data and video data collected from official matches played by the NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes of the Top League in 2020-2021. The AI development software uses NNC (Neural Network Console) to create a CNN model. And AI is evaluated by obtaining learning curves and confusion matrices. In a study conducted in 2020-2021, training was performed using the developed AI with 73 pieces of teacher data and 32 pieces of validation data as input, and the correct response rate was 6.25%. This could be attributed to the small amount of teacher data and the recognition rate of each tackle waveform. In this report, we summarize the series of steps from the creation of teacher data to the development, execution, and evaluation of the AI.

INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF THE FIRST GOAL SCORED BY THE HOME AND AWAY TEAMS ON WINNING THE COMPETITION IN FOOTBALL

Aim: In this study; This study was conducted to examine the effect of the first goal scored by the home and away teams in football on the outcome of the match. In the study, it was aimed to examine the goals in a total of 1951 matches, in which one or more goals were scored in the whole season, in the top football leagues in Turkey, Spain, France, Germany, Italy and England in the 2018-2019 season. Method: The data of the present study were obtained from the OPTA Sports Data Company website. The research data were analyzed by analyzing technical parameters such as the home team and away team winning the match and their percentages, and the winning percentages of the teams scoring the first goal. All obtained data were recorded and interpreted by calculating frequency and percentage values. Findings: According to the study data, it has been determined that the first goal scored in football has a great effect on winning the match. In addition, when the home and away team status of the teams is examined, it is seen that the home teams that score the first goal have a greater advantage than the away teams. Conclusion: It is thought that the first goals scored as a result of this study provide a greater advantage to the home teams and psychological training should be included in the planning as well as tactical and physical training in order to provide an advantage to the away teams.

A Study on Support Play in Soccer Games: Relationship between Player Positioning and Zone

In football, the off-ball movements of receivers, such as in support, are important maneuvers to achieve collective play. However, the objectification of the indicators of support play is not clear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between player positioning and zone in support play. Using tracking data and scouting footage from three matches in the 2019 season of Japan’s top football league, the J1 League, a total of 724 cases of a diamond shape (DS) surrounding an opposing defender when receiving a pass under pressure were analyzed. The following results were observed: 1) The occurrences of Offensive Advantage DS-2 and Offensive Advantage DS-3 were significantly higher in the Defending Zone (DZ) (23.1% and 16.3%, respectively) and Middle Zone (MZ) (25.7% and 14.9%, respectively) than in the Attacking Zone (AZ) (14.8% and 5.6%). 2) The occurrence of Defensive Advantage DS-0 was significantly higher in the AZ (3.5%) than in the MZ (1.2%). These findings suggest that the DS positioning and coordinated ball receiving moves by players close to the ball carrier may be effective in the DZ and MZ, but not in the AZ where the priority is to play for a goal.

Home Advantage Revisited: Did COVID Level the Playing Fields?

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic swept fans out of the stadiums, but matches continued to be played in most major football leagues. We make use of this natural experiment to investigate if home field advantage disappears when the home team is not supported by the fans. Focusing on four top European football leagues, we find such an effect in the Bundesliga only. We propose that this singularity may be related to the special role that the fan associations play in German football.

The effects of participation in European competitions on the domestic competitiveness of Polish football clubs

Objective: The objective of this study was to establish whether participation in European football competitions affects the sports performance of Polish football clubs in the domestic league. Accordingly, negative short-term effects and positive medium-term effects were hypothesized. Research Design & Methods: Based on the case of Polish Ekstraklasa, observations covering a 10-year competition period (seasons 2011/12 to 2020/21) were tested in regression models that included the league points and positions in the table as dependent variables and participation in the European UEFA competition and promotion to the group stage as explanatory variables. Findings: The results revealed that if a Polish football club competes in European competitions, there are neither negative consequences for its domestic competitiveness in the short run nor positive consequences in the medium-term period. Implications & Recommendations: Every season, football teams throughout Europe make an effort to internationalize themselves through UEFA competitions. This study demonstrates to sports managers that, contrary to common belief, engaging limited resources of football clubs outside the top leagues to compete in two competitions simultaneously has neutral effect. Contribution & Value Added: To date, researchers have been interested in determining the influence of international competitions on the level of competitive balance. This is the first study on the impact of participation in European UEFA competitions on sports performance in domestic leagues outside Western Europe.

Factors Determining the Market Value of Football Players on the Example of Ekstraklasa

The aim of the study is to answer the question of what factors determine the market value of players and what is their impact on the market valuation of players in Ekstraklasa clubs. Using linear regression, the parameters of the models determining the impact of individual exogenous variables on the market value of footballers in Ekstraklasa clubs were determined. The results of the analysis indicate a significant, positive relationship between the market value of players and the results of clubs in national and international competitions. The expenses on transfers of Ekstraklasa clubs turned out to be negatively correlated with the market valuation of players. Moreover, expenses on salaries and revenues turned out to be positively correlated with the market value of the players in Ekstraklasa clubs. An important factor that has a significant impact on the value of players is also their age. The most valuable players are players with experience at the highest level of competition, who at the same time have many years of professional football career ahead of them. In order to correctly assess the market value of footballers, many factors that could potentially affect their valuation should be taken into account. The business model used by Ekstraklasa clubs is significantly different from those of the leading European leagues, especially those belonging to the top league. The most effective way to find a player with high market value is to invest in the development of young, talented Polish players with high sales potential. The article is an extension of the research on the factors determining the market value of footballers, taking into account many variables that have not been fully verified so far. The study also distinguishes the time span, covering 15 seasons of the Ekstraklasa. A comprehensive approach allows for identifying the main trends in shaping the Polish football market.

Concussion among female athletes in Iceland: Stress, depression, anxiety, and quality of life

The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between self-reported concussion history and stress, depression, anxiety, and quality of life among Icelandic female athletes. Participants were 508 Icelandic female athletes, aged 18–45 (M = 26.99, SD = 7.14), that had, or were currently training and competing in the two top leagues in basketball, soccer, and handball, in the top league in ice-hockey and national tournaments in mixed martial arts, taekwondo, karate, and boxing. Participants completed an online questionnaire regarding their age, sport, and concussion history before answering standard mental health scales concerning stress (PSS), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), and quality of life (QOLS). Female athletes reporting a history of concussions scored higher on PSS, PHQ-9, and GAD-7 than those reporting no history of concussion. Scores on the QOLS were not significantly different between the groups. Female athletes that had sustained a concussion were 3.48 to 4.85 times more likely (depending on the number of concussions) to score above the clinical cut-off on PHQ-9 than those that had not sustained a concussion. Athletes that reported 2–3 or ≥ 4 concussions were 3.52 and 3.40 times more likely to score above the clinical cut-off on GAD-7, respectively. Results indicate that Icelandic female athletes with a history of concussion report more symptoms of distress than those with no history of concussion, and the higher number of concussions sustained, the worse they feel.

On the variation of fragmental constructions in British English and American English post-match interviews

Abstract This article takes a cognitive, interactional perspective on pluricentricity and examines the use of fragmental constructions in a mid-sized dataset, drawing on recordings of British English and American English post-match interviews (PMIs), i.e. media interviews conducted with football players after matches in the British and North American top leagues. It examines what types of fragmental constructions are deployed in the PMIs and whether the use and distribution of such constructions vary between the British and American “communities of practice” (Lave/Wenger 1991). The study finds that the quantity and quality of fragments largely differ, with the British English data showing a higher relative frequency of fragmental constructions, more grammatical variation, and a use of fragmental constructions which do not necessarily draw on latent grammatical structures from the prior speech for meaning-making. It has been suggested by Biber et al. (1999) that clausal elliptical structures are generally less typical of American English. The present genre-specific analysis suggests an interdependence between fragmental constructions and their routinisation and frozenness, interactional constraints, as well as deviant sports and media cultures shared by these communities of practice, which can be treated as a form of “enregisterment” (Agha 2007).

The Influence of Time Winning and Time Losing on Position-Specific Match Physical Demands in the Top One Spanish Soccer League.

The aim of the present study was to analyze the influence of time winning and time losing on position-specific match physical demands with and without ball possession in the top Spanish professional soccer league. All matches played in the First Spanish soccer league over four consecutive seasons (from 2015/16 to 2018/19) were recorded using an optical tracking system (i.e., ChyronHego), and the data were analyzed via Mediacoach®. Total distance (TD), and TD > 21 km·h−1 covered with and without ball possession were analyzed using a Linear Mixed Model, taking into account the contextual variables time winning and losing. Results showed that TD and TD > 21 km·h−1 covered by central midfielders (0.01 and 0.005 m/min, respectively), wide midfielders (0.02 and 0.01 m/min, respectively), and forwards (0.03 and 0.02 m/min, respectively) significantly increased while winning (p < 0.05). By contrast, TD and TD > 21 km·h−1 covered by central defenders (0.01 and 0.008 m/min, respectively) and wide defenders (0.06 and 0.008 m/min, respectively) significantly increased while losing (p < 0.05). In addition, for each minute that teams were winning, total distance with ball possession (TDWP) decreased, while, for each minute that teams were losing, TDWP increased. Instead, TDWP > 21 km·h−1 obtained opposite results. Total distance without ball possession increased when teams were winning, and decreased when teams were losing. Therefore, the evolution of scoreline significantly influences tactical–technical and physical demands on soccer matches.

Motives of labour migrations of foreign elite athletes to Polish table tennis clubs

Abstract The paper presents results of empirical study on elite foreign athletes working in Polish top table tennis clubs. It focuses on professional migration motives of elite table tennis players. In-depth interviews were carried out with 27 foreign table tennis players from 10 countries, who were playing for two top league clubs in Poland, and with 8 club coaches who were working with foreign players. Research was conducted during the 2014/2015 league season. The surveyed athletes came both from European countries of higher economic status than Poland and from outside Europe, from countries of lower economic status. A significant number of the surveyed players (11) arrived at Poland from China. The reasons why the surveyed players decided to come to Poland were varied and included both pull factors resulting from attractiveness of work abroad and factors pushing the players away from their home country sport system. Among the motives mentioned by the respondents, the major ones seem to be the desire to continue their professional career and to develop as players. Most of the respondents reported a few factors motivating them to come to Poland and play in the Polish table tennis league. Most often they gave several reasons altogether and it is not easy to classify them as exclusively one of the typo-logies of sport migrants presented in the literature. For some of the respondents, the decisive criterion was the high level of the Polish table tennis league, staying only slightly behind the French and German leagues. For others, good financial conditions offered by the Polish clubs and the possibility of improving living conditions were of key importance. Push factors were particularly important in the case of Asian players representing a very high level of sport skills, however slightly lower than the level of the Chinese national team.

Supervised sequential pattern mining of event sequences in sport to identify important patterns of play: An application to rugby union.

Given a set of sequences comprised of time-ordered events, sequential pattern mining is useful to identify frequent subsequences from different sequences or within the same sequence. However, in sport, these techniques cannot determine the importance of particular patterns of play to good or bad outcomes, which is often of greater interest to coaches and performance analysts. In this study, we apply a recently proposed supervised sequential pattern mining algorithm called safe pattern pruning (SPP) to 490 labelled event sequences representing passages of play from one rugby team’s matches in the 2018 Japan Top League season. We obtain patterns that are the most discriminative between scoring and non-scoring outcomes from both the team’s and opposition teams’ perspectives using SPP, and compare these with the most frequent patterns obtained with well-known unsupervised sequential pattern mining algorithms when applied to subsets of the original dataset, split on the label. From our obtained results, line breaks, successful line-outs, regained kicks in play, repeated phase-breakdown play, and failed exit plays by the opposition team were found to be the patterns that discriminated most between the team scoring and not scoring. Opposition team line breaks, errors made by the team, opposition team line-outs, and repeated phase-breakdown play by the opposition team were found to be the patterns that discriminated most between the opposition team scoring and not scoring. It was also found that, probably because of the supervised nature and pruning/safe-screening mechanisms of SPP, compared to the patterns obtained by the unsupervised methods, those obtained by SPP were more sophisticated in terms of containing a greater variety of events, and when interpreted, the SPP-obtained patterns would also be more useful for coaches and performance analysts.

Territorial change, urbanization and development of football clubs in China

ABSTRACT The professional football clubs from the Chinese Super League (CSL), the top male professional football league in China, have been at the frontline in the fiercely competitive international market by paying record-breaking transfer fees and offering exorbitant salaries to recruit players. This paper analyses the development of professional football clubs in China as a tertiary capital-intensive urban industry from a spatial perspective, understanding urbanization as a process propelled by changes in the system of administrative divisions. It argues that changes in the territorial configuration of cities produce intertwined dynamics of land-use changes and fixed capital investments, a process in which land developers and industrial conglomerates accumulate surpluses that are subsequently invested in the development of professional football clubs as a tertiary circuit of capital investment. The paper highlights the establishment of urban districts in cities at the highest scales of power in China’s territorial system of administrative divisions as a crucial strategy through which the central government has reproduced urbanization, financially empowering conglomerates that reinvest capital in the football industry. The development and achievements of two football clubs – Guangzhou Evergande-Taobao FC and Shanghai SIPG FC – are discussed in the context of the territorial administrative restructuring of their host cities.

Association of mental health help-seeking with mental health-related knowledge and stigma in Japan Rugby Top League players.

BackgroundGlobally increasing clinical and research interests are driving a movement to promote understanding and practice of mental health in elite athletes. However, few studies have yet addressed this issue. This study aims to describe the association of the intention to seek help with mental health knowledge and stigma and the severity of depressive symptoms in Japan Rugby Top League players.MethodsAs a target population, we studied 233 Japan Rugby Top League male players (25–29 years = 123 [52.8%]), who were born in Japan, using a cross-sectional design. Surveys were conducted using anonymous, web-based self-administered questionnaires. Structural equation modelling was performed to evaluate the hypothesis of an interrelationship between mental health knowledge, stigma, and severity of depressive symptoms as factors influencing the intention to seek help.ResultsPlayers with more severe depressive symptoms were more reluctant to seek help from others (β = - 0.20, p = 0.03). Players with greater knowledge about mental health tended to have less stigma toward others with mental health problems (β = 0.13, p = 0.049), but tended not to seek help with their own mental health problems.ConclusionsRugby players in need of mental health support, even with greater knowledge, tend not to seek help from others, while having less stigma toward people with mental health problems. Rugby players might require approaches other than a knowledge-based educational approach to encourage them to seek help.

Evaluation of Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Its Correlation with Team Performance, Player Position and Physical Characteristics in the Soccer Premium League of Iran

Background: This study is one of the first to specifically analyze cardiorespiratory fitness and its association with age, weight, height, body fat percentage (BFP), body mass index (BMI), team performance, and player position for a large number of soccer players in an Asian top league. Methods: 213 players (age = 25 ± 5 years, height = 181.2 ± 6.8 cm, weight = 76.1 ± 8.1 kg, BFP = 11.3 ± 3.1) affiliated with 16 soccer clubs from Iran’s Premier League (i.e., the highest level of club football in Iran), were tested for maximal aerobic power (VO2 max), first and second ventilatory thresholds (VT1 and VT2), and ventilatory efficiency at rest (VO2 rest). The nonparametric Spearman's correlation test was performed to check for correlations, and the resulting rank correlation coefficients (rs) and probability value (P) are presented. Results: In terms of mean ± standard deviation, the 213 male players participating in this study have VO2max = 55.3 ± 5.4 mL.kg-1.min-1, VT1 = 57.3 ± 4.2 (% max), VT2 = 92.6 ± 3.4 (% max) and VO2rest = 7.1 ± 1.4 mL.kg-1.min-1. No correlation between VO2max and team performance or BFP was observed. The correlations between VO2max and age (rs= -0.23, P = 10-3), height (rs = -0.34, P ≅ 0), weight (rs = -0.42, P ≅ 0) and BMI (rs = -0.30, P = 10-5) were considered statistically significant. The difference between VO2max of players in different positions was also statistically significant. Goalkeepers possessed the lowest VO2max, with a mean value of 49.8 mL.kg-1.min-1. Defenders had the lowest mean VO2max value players (equal to 54.7 mL.kg-1.min-1) amongst outfield players, and midfielders had the highest mean VO2max (= 56.9 mL.kg-1.min-1). The other indices of cardiorespiratory fitness (VT1, VT2 and VO2rest) had no statistically significant correlation with the physical characteristics of the soccer players, team performance and player position. Conclusions: The study demonstrates that VT1, VT2, and VO2rest are not distinguishing factors amongst different categories of age, weight, height, team performance, and player position, but VO2max varies with age, weight, height, and BMI. The study also shows that there is a high correlation between the physical demands of player positions during a game and the aerobic capacity of players in those positions, and this must be taken into account in soccer training.

No Fans-No Pressure: Referees in Professional Football During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, European elite football (a.k.a. soccer) leagues played the remaining season 2019/20 without or strongly limited attendance of supporters (i.e., “ghost games”). From a sport psychological perspective this situation poses a unique opportunity to investigate the crowd's influence on referee decisions and the associated effect of “home advantage.” A total of 1286 matches–played in the top leagues of Spain, England, Germany, Italy, Russia, Turkey, Austria and the Czech Republic–were analyzed for results, fouls, bookings and reasons for bookings and contrasted between respective matchdays of season 2018/19 (regular attendance) and season 2019/20 (ghost games). Following recent methodological developments in the research on the home advantage effect, four different statistical analyses–including Pollard's traditional method–were used for the assessment of the home advantage effect. There are two main findings. First, home teams were booked significantly more often with yellow cards for committing fouls in ghost games. Most importantly, this effect was independent of the course of the games. In contrast, bookings for other reasons (criticism and unfair sportsmanship) changed similarly for both home and away teams in ghost games. Second, the overall home performance and home advantage effect in the respective elite leagues–identified in the respective matches of the regular 2018/19 season–vanished in the ghost games of the 2019/20 season. We conclude that the lack of supporters in top European football during the COVID-19 pandemic led to decreased social pressure from the ranks on referees, which also had a potential impact on the home advantage. Referees assessed the play of home teams more objectively, leading to increased yellow cards awarded for fouls committed by the home teams. Since there were no significant changes in referee decisions against the away teams, we argue that our observations reflect a reduction of unconscious favoritism of referees for the home teams.

Are Sports Betting Markets Semi-Strong Efficient? Evidence From the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract: This paper examines whether sports betting markets are semi-strong form efficient—i.e., whether new information is rapidly and completely incorporated into betting prices. We use news on ghost games in the top European football leagues due to the COVID-19 pandemic as a clean arrival of new public information. Because spectators are absent during ghost games, the home advantage is reduced, and we test whether this information is fully reflected in betting prices. Our results show that bookmakers and betting exchanges systematically overestimated a home team’s winning probability during the first period of the ghost games, which suggests that betting markets are, at least temporally, not semi-strong form efficient. Examining different leagues, we find that our main results are driven by the German Bundesliga, which was the first league to resume operations. We exploit a betting strategy that yields a positive net payoff over more than one month.