Football in Times of COVID-19: A Recapitulation of Preventive Measures and Infection Control Policies Aiming at a Safe Game Environment

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) resulted in sporting event suspensions and cancellations, affecting competition calendars worldwide during 2020 and 2021. This challenged high-performance athletes’ capacity to complete physical, technical, or tactical training during restricted movement measures (lockdown). With the Football World Cup organized in the last quarter of 2022, the past period of training and match disturbances challenged footballers concerning their performance and potential higher risk of injury at official matches’ resumption. There has been considerable debate about the management of resuming professional football (soccer) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Governing bodies worldwide implemented measures to ensure a safe resumption of football. These precautionary measures aimed to protect the health of players, their support staff, and officials around the pitch and ensure the enjoyment of the event by spectators in the football stadiums. We have therefore narratively reviewed scientific papers about how football has resumed on the pitch and in the stands with special focus on the COVID-19 infection control strategies allowing footballers to perform again and supporters to enjoy the game after the 2020 global stop to sport.

Impact of COVID-19 on football attacking players’ match technical performance: a longitudinal study

“…Research into the impact of COVID-19 on individual players provides valuable insights for developing specific training and match preparation strategies. Representative studies on players primarily center on the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate 15 , 16 and transmission risk after resuming professional football 17 – 19 , the testing protocol 20 – 24 and surveillance for COVID-19 2 , 25 and infection control policies for players 26 . Certain studies offer practical suggestions for designing training sessions to aid players in returning to sports following the lockdown imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic 27 .…”

Academic and healthcare efforts from Cessation to complete resumption of professional football tournaments during COVID-19 pandemic: A narrative review

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected all recreational, amateur, and major sports, leading to the cancellation and suspension of many professional sports competitions worldwide during the first half of 2020 [ [1] , [2] , [3] ]. With the imposition of risk mitigation measures such as social distancing, sporting activities were substantially hindered, even if played outdoors, and this changed the global sports landscape [ 4 , 5 ]. Because of the disease's novelty, lack of specialized mitigation strategies (like mass vaccination, which was rolled out widely from mid-January 2021) and effective treatment options, many preventive actions were undertaken around the world to minimize transmission of disease, such as stricter guidelines on social distancing; hand hygiene; the mandatory face masks [ 6 ], lockdown measures [ 7 ], travel restrictions [ 8 ], quarantine home isolation [ 9 ], and contact tracing [ 10 ].…”

“…However, rather than being dictated by league officials, the laws and guidelines controlling in-person attendance were largely set by state and local authorities, resulting in a patchwork of protocols entailing details such as physical distancing, use of face masks, spectator testing, and perhaps most importantly, maximum attendance [ [3] , [4] , [5] , 17 , 24 , 31 ]. Several stadiums finally opened to a fraction of their original capacity, although the percentages fluctuated over time and across clubs.…”