Kinematic and physiological analysis of the performance of the referee football and its relationship with decision making

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the cinematic and physiological requirements of referees and assistant referees and their relationship to decision-making in various official competition matches in football. The sample consisted of six referees, one acted as main referee and five as assistant referees (age: 21.2 ± 0.98 years; height: 175.67 ± 4.27 cm, weight: 65.73 ± 4.68 kg). The registration of the data of the subjects participating in the study was conducted with an inertial system called WIMU and the analysis of the data was performed with a software called Quiko (RealTrack Systems, Almeria, Spain). In the study, 4 games of the League Championship Third Division (Group XIII) belonging to the 2014-2015 season were analyzed. The main findings were that the referee runs an average distance of 10124.7 ± 543.2 meters, with an average speed between 7.2 and 13 km/h with a maximum heart rate (HRmax) between 85-95% of his maximum; assistant referees walked an average distance of 5793.4 ± 481.7 meters, with an average speed between 3.6 to 7.2 km/h with a HRmax between 75-85% of their maximum. The aspects which influenced the decision making of the referees and caused the errors were: the part of the pitch, the period of play and the HRmax percentage of the referee. What this research shows is that referees and assistant referees should be considered in terms of training as independent people, and that referees must correct the movements in the field, concentration and work situations where your HRmax is above 85% to improve its success rate. Future studies should pursue this investigation with a greater number of senior officials and higher number of matches to generalize the results to all arbitral establishments and improve its quality.

Internal and External Demands in Basketball Referees during the U-16 European Women’s Championship

“…In this case, referees spend ~80% of the game time in the walking and jogging (0–12 km/h) speed zone, which probably has matches with low intensity, depending on the game style and the characteristics of the competition, teams, and players. Instead, football referees perform movements below 12 km/h for 65% of the match [19]; these results are different because the distance covered in football is more than basketball. In both cases, similar time values exist in high intensity or sprint actions.…”

“…The ranges of speed zones were: V 1 = 0–6 km/h (walking); V 2 = 6–12 km/h (jogging); V 3 = 12–18 km/h (running); and V 4 = 18–21 km/h (sprinting). These ranges of speed were established according to criteria developed by Gómez-Carmona and Pino-Ortega, [19] and based on the characteristic demands of basketball officiating.…”

“…Various studies have assessed heart rate in referees of team sports, such as women’s basketball (60–70% HRmax) [9]; men’s basketball (~80% HRmáx) [10,11,12]; football (>80% HR) [13,14]; futsal (~80% HRmax) [15,16], and handball (60–70% HRmax) [17]. Other research studies have utilized additional work parameters focused instead on the kinematic and neuromuscular workload demands, such as distance covered, speed, accelerations, metabolic energy, or PlayerLoad TM [18,19,20,21,22]. These parameters provide additional objective data relative to the physical demands placed on referees during competitive circumstances: individual fitness level, type of competition (local, national, or international), numbers of referees (two or three), gender of teams (men or women), and characteristics of the game (close game, game style, etc.)…”

“…Nonetheless, the use of this system is limited to spaces where video cameras are installed, and thus presents an indirect albeit reliable means of measurement. The GNSS technology requires that players wear a device that enables the tracking of the individual’s positioning through a satellite [26], and is thus limited to assessing referee outcomes in sports that are played outdoors, such as football [19,27,28] or rugby [21]. Nonetheless, with the development of the ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, it is possible to identify the positioning of athletes and referees in indoor sports with greater confidence through the GNSS technology [29,30,31].…”

Pre- and mid-season repeated sprint ability of soccer referees from the first and second divisions

“…While the physiological demands and performance capabilities of soccer players have been extensively studied, 1–3 fewer studies have focused on soccer referees. 4,5 In one study, measurements of heart rate, blood lactate, and time–motion analyses in national league games showed that the referees had significant aerobic energy production throughout the game, as well as frequent episodes of anaerobic turnover. 6 Nevertheless, these investigators found that the referees’ ability to perform high-intensity running (HIR) was reduced toward the end of the match.…”