Association between Clinical Vision Measures and Visual Perception and Soccer Referees' On-field Performance

Abstract

SIGNIFICANCEThe decisions taken by soccer officials are critically important to game management. Understanding the underlying processes that mediate expert performance in soccer refereeing may lead to a better standard of officiating. Vision is the dominant source of incoming information upon which officials rely to make their on-field decisions.PURPOSEWe tested the hypothesis that performance on generic tests of vision and visual perception predicts domain-specific performance in elite-level soccer referees (R) and assistant referees (AR).METHODSWe assessed the vision of R and AR who officiate at the highest level in Portugal. To be eligible for inclusion, R and AR had to have officiated for at least two consecutive seasons across the 2014/2015, 2015/2016, and 2016/2017 seasons. A single, rank-order list of the performance of eligible officials was created based on the rank-order list for each season that was made by the Portuguese Soccer Federation. Clinical vision measures included visual acuity and stereoacuity, and visual perception measures were gathered using the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills, Third Edition.RESULTSA total of 59 officials participated (21 R, 38 AR), 17 of whom officiated at the international level. The R and AR groups did not differ in vision or visual perception measures. We found that better stereoacuity (P < .001) and visual memory (P = .001) are associated with a higher rank order of on-field performance after adjusting for the age, experience, the national/international status, and the regional affiliation of the officials. Together, these two measures explain 22% of the variance in rank-order performance.CONCLUSIONSThis is the first study to show a link between the vision of officials and their on-field performance. The origin and significance of these findings remain to be established, and further work is required to establish whether they are component skills in the domain of soccer refereeing.

Evaluation of Visual Skills in Soccer Referees and Assistant Referees

“…Soccer referees and assistant referees with abnormal color vision may be at a disadvantage because of diminished color contrast between the player clothes and green grass. Because of the importance of color vision in referees, given the fact that the soccer field is green, and in the case of red or green jerseys, it can lead to arbitrary mistakes( 18 ) ( 27 , 28 ). The study by Buys and Ferreira indicated that most of the athletes 79.9%) did not have a color deficiency ( 24 ).…”

Dynamic Visual Acuity, Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex, and Visual Field in National Football League (NFL) Officiating: Physiology and Visualization Engineering for 3D Virtual On-Field Training

“…Additionally, the neuro-ophthalmic principles may be integrated with longstanding knowledge structures to amplify decision-making skills on the field. In a similar vein of research, Baptista et al found that after adjusting for experience and demographic factors in soccer officials, stereoacuity and visual memory were the factors that were associated with superior on-field performance [ 55 ]. It was also found that roughly a quarter of elite soccer officials in a study had vision that could be capable of improved visual acuity while officiating.…”

Guest Editorial: Visual Function and Sports Performance

“…Another area of emphasis addressed in this feature issue is the comparison of visual skills between athletes (and referees) across different levels of expertise and across different ages 5–12 . This includes several original investigations comparing differing levels of expertise, 5,6,11 as well as a review by Dalton 7 that addresses the quiet eye phenomena.…”

“…Another area of emphasis addressed in this feature issue is the comparison of visual skills between athletes (and referees) across different levels of expertise and across different ages. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] This includes several original investigations comparing differing levels of expertise, 5,6,11 as well as a review by Dalton 7 that addresses the quiet eye phenomena. This influential concept refers to "the final fixation or tracking gaze prior to the onset of a critical motor action," which has been shown to correlate with performance and overall expertise in athletes.…”