Past studies have indicated that multiple factors may influence sport referees' decisions, such as pressure from spectators and athletes' reputation. Grounded in the social impact theory framework, this study examined whether Norwegian Premier League (NPL) referees are biased by a team's success when awarding penalties. Using video footage (similar to video assistant referees), an expert panel (EP) of four NPL referees evaluated all potential penalty situations (N = 43) involving either of two successful teams during an entire NPL season. Fifty-five potential penalty situations from matches without successful teams were also rated. Overall, the match referees identified 73.3% (22 of 30) of the EP-identified penalties during matches without successful teams. Successful teams were awarded 110% (11 of 10) of the EP-identified penalties, while their opponents were awarded 12.5% (1 of 8). Chi square statistic revealed that successful teams were more likely to receive an incorrect penalty compared with their opponents, and less likely to be denied a penalty they should have been awarded. These findings indicate that referees' decisions may be unintentionally biased by a team's success, extending our knowledge about how football referees may be influenced by social forces.

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Childhood sport participation is argued to be important to understand differences in self-regulation and performance level in adolescence. This study sought to investigate if football-specific activities in childhood (6-12 years of age) is related to self-regulatory skills and national under 14- and 15-team selection in Norwegian elite youth football. Data of practice histories and self-regulatory skills of 515 youth football players selected at Norwegian regional level were collected and further analysed using multilevel analyses. The results revealed that high self-regulated players were more likely to be selected for national initiatives, and increased their involvement in peer-led football practice and adult-led football practice during childhood, compared to players with lower levels of self-regulation. While national level players reported higher levels of peer-led football play in childhood, the interaction effect suggest that the regional level players increased their involvement in peer-led play during childhood compared to national level players. In conclusion, the findings indicate that childhood sport participation may contribute to later differences in self-regulation, and highlights the importance of childhood engagement in football-specific play and practice in the development of Norwegian youth football players.

Soccer referees move freely on the pitch to place themselves in the best location for making decisions. While Football Association UK (FA) highlights that a referee should never be more than 20 m away from the playing situation, previous studies have been inconsistent in indicating appropriate distance to a situation for increasing the likelihood of a correct decision. Further, appropriate angle and insight are also likely to influence the correctness of referees' decisions. The aim of this study was to provide an initial investigation of elite referees' positioning in the field (distance, angle, and insight) when making correct and erroneous decisions in potential penalty situations. An expert panel (EP) consisting of two active referees with relevant academic background analyzed referees positioning when making correct or erroneous decisions regarding penalties. The EP were asked to qualitatively analyze referees positioning in selected video clips by using recommended technical refereeing criteria and practical guidelines (i.e., the referee's distance from, angle to, and insight into the penalty situations). Of the 42 situations evaluated, the results revealed that the EP termed the referees positioning as good in terms of angle and insight in 25 and 21 situations, respectively. The angle was average in seven situations and poor in 10 situations, and the insight were average in 10 situations and poor in 11 situations. The match referee was <10 meters away in 12 situations, 10–20 m away in 22 situations, and >20 meters away in eight situations. Results revealed that referees' positioning that resulted in the highest rate of correct decisions were when the distance were under 10 meters (83% correct decisions), good angle (88%), and good insight (86%). In contrast, referees were poorly positioned in terms of angle and/or insight in nine of the 15 erroneous decisions made. Although the present study was a preliminary qualitative investigation containing a limited number of potential penalty situations, the findings indicated that soccer referees are more likely to produce a correct decision in potential penalty situations when the distance to the situation is under 10 meters, when the insight to the situation is good and the angle to the incident is good. In contrast, the match referees generally had a poor starting position to assess the penalty situations where they landed on a wrong decision. While previous studies have been somewhat inconsistent in indicating optimal referee positioning in soccer, the present study highlights the potential value of a more qualitative approach to understand referees' positioning and subsequent decision-making accuracy.

The personal assets framework suggests that dynamic elements of (a) personal engagement in activities, (b) quality social dynamics, and (c) appropriate settings will influence an athlete’s long-term outcomes of performance, personal development, and continued participation in sport. The aim of the present study was to conduct a case study of a Norwegian age-restricted team that was successful in promoting participation, performance, and positive development for individual participants and to investigate how the dynamic elements of activities, social dynamics, and settings have led to these long-term outcomes. The results indicated that the case is a best-practice example of successful attainment of personal development and long-term participation and performance through appropriate structure and application of the dynamic elements within the personal assets framework, including enjoyable peer-led play activities and quality practice, quality relationships with teammates and coaches, and access to facilities.