Subjective experience, self-efficacy, and motivation of professional football referees during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The present multi-study article investigates the subjective experience of professional football (a.k.a. soccer) referees and players during the COVID-19 pandemic and the so-called ghost games (i.e., games without supporters). Referees from the Austrian Football Association completed questionnaires inquiring about self-efficacy, motivation, and general personal observations and perceptions (e.g., arousal or confidence). In addition, two players and one referee in the Austrian Football Bundesliga were interviewed retrospectively regarding their subjective experience during ghost games and the effects of emotions on behavior and performance using semi-structured, video-taped interviews. Results of the referee survey indicate that the most profound differences between regular games and ghost games lie in the domain of intrinsic motivation and multiple aspects of subjective experience. Specifically, the experience in ghost games compared with regular games was reported by referees as being significantly less motivating, less excited/tense, less emotional, less focused, and overall, more negative, despite being easier to referee and the players behaving more positively. Qualitative analyses of the video-taped interview footage indicated (i) substantial inter-individual variability regarding the extent of the effect of the empty stadiums on the subjective experience of emotions, (ii) consequently, different strategies to regulate emotions and arousal from suboptimal to optimal levels, both before and during competition, and (iii) interactions between reported emotions, arousal, motivation, self-confidence, behavior and performance on the pitch. In addition, non-verbal expressions of emotion were captured using fully automated AI-software that coded facial movements during interviews. The results of this exploratory facial expression analysis revealed varying degrees of arousal and valence in relation to the content of the statements during the interviews, demonstrating the convergent validity of our findings. Our findings contribute to the growing literature on the effects of football games without fans during the COVID-19 pandemic and provide insights into the subjective experience of professional football referees. Concerning referees and players alike, emotions are investigated as potential processes related to home-field advantage and performance in professional football by means of a multi-methods approach. Further, the combination of qualitative and quantitative measures—as well as verbal and non-verbal communication channels—can deepen our understanding of the emotional influence of (missing) spectators on the subjective experience and the behavior of sports professionals is discussed.

Is crowd support important in professional football’s home advantage? A systematic review based on covid-19 effect<b></b>

“…Very high quality descriptive (Leitner & Richlan, 2021a) and high quality (Bordigon & Neto, 2022) studies were found, as well as very high quality predictive (Sors et al, 2021) and high quality studies (Wilkesmann, 2022). Medium quality theoretical (Webb, 2021) and very high quality (Richlan et al, 2023) studies were also found. An average number of good quality studies was found, but research should continue in different genders and categories to obtain greater variety and maintain study quality.…”

“…In the predictive phase, a sizeable proportion (40%, n=12) similarly demonstrated decreased home advantage, but a higher percentage (22%, n=7) evidenced no fan-based differences. Among the theoretical works, three studies were unclassified since they did not include original data analysis (Gouveia & Pereira, 2021;Richlan et al, 2023;Webb, 2021). Overall, there were only 7 total studies (14.9%) that could not be classified by research phase and home advantage effect (Gouveia & Pereira, 2021;Jiang et al, 2021;Magistro & Wack, 2023;Richlan et al, 2023;Steinfeldt et al, 2022;Webb, 2021;Wilkesmann, 2022), highlighting that the vast majority of works clearly assessed impacts on home advantage.…”

“…Among the theoretical works, three studies were unclassified since they did not include original data analysis (Gouveia & Pereira, 2021;Richlan et al, 2023;Webb, 2021). Overall, there were only 7 total studies (14.9%) that could not be classified by research phase and home advantage effect (Gouveia & Pereira, 2021;Jiang et al, 2021;Magistro & Wack, 2023;Richlan et al, 2023;Steinfeldt et al, 2022;Webb, 2021;Wilkesmann, 2022), highlighting that the vast majority of works clearly assessed impacts on home advantage. By integrating research phase and quantifying observed effects, Table 3 provides greater specificity regarding trends in findings than considering these dimensions individually.…”

Virtual training, real effects: a narrative review on sports performance enhancement through interventions in virtual reality

“…In addition, youth and academy players might benefit from VR, as simulations of loud fan chants or in-match pressure situations (e.g., opponents running toward them at a high pace) are designed to prepare them to deal with stressful situations in senior football at an early age. As recently shown, the presence or absence of spectators in a football stadium has substantial effects on the psychological states, behavior, and performance of football players and teams (Leitner and Richlan, 2021a,b;Leitner et al, 2022;Richlan et al, 2023). This may hold even more true for less experienced and younger players, who therefore might benefit even more from this kind of VR training.…”