Helsen, Gilis, and Weston (2006) do not err in questioning the optical error hypothesis as the only major account for explaining offside decision-making errors

Oudejans, Bakker, and Beek (2007) recognize several relevant aspects of offside judgements in association football in the paper by Helsen, Gilis, and Weston (2006). We agree that the existing knowledge base on offside assessment needs to be expanded for two reasons. First, from a theoretical point of view it is important to examine how assistant referees can learn to deal with the limitations of the human visual information processing system. Second, from a practical point of view it is relevant to understand better refereeing performances and to identify potential explanations for incorrect offside decisions that could impact on the final outcome of the game. Oudejans et al. (2007) believe we both misinterpreted the optical error hypothesis and that our data set was unsuited to test it. Below, we react to these comments.     

Helsen,Gilis, and Weston (2006) do not err in questioning the optical error hypothesis as the only major account for explaining offside decision-making errors

Abstract

Oudejans, Bakker, and Beek (2007 Oudejans, R. R. D., Bakker, F. C. and Beek, P. J. 2007. Helsen, Gillis and Weston (2006) err in testing the optical error hypothesis. Journal of Sports Sciences, [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) recognize several relevant aspects of offside judgements in association football in the paper by Helsen, Gilis, and Weston (2006 Helsen, W. F., Gilis, B. and Weston, M. 2006. Errors in judging “offside” in football: Test of the optical error versus the perceptual flash-lag hypothesis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 24: 521–528. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We agree that the existing knowledge base on offside assessment needs to be expanded for two reasons. First, from a theoretical point of view it is important to examine how assistant referees can learn to deal with the limitations of the human visual information processing system. Second, from a practical point of view it is relevant to understand better refereeing performances and to identify potential explanations for incorrect offside decisions that could impact on the final outcome of the game. Oudejans et al. (2007 Oudejans, R. R. D., Bakker, F. C. and Beek, P. J. 2007. Helsen, Gillis and Weston (2006) err in testing the optical error hypothesis. Journal of Sports Sciences, [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) believe we both misinterpreted the optical error hypothesis and that our data set was unsuited to test it. Below, we react to these comments.     

Helsen, Gilis and Weston (2006) err in testing the optical error hypothesis

In this commentary, we react to the recent study by Helsen, Gilis and Weston (2006) on judging offside in football. Helsen et al. claim that their data falsify the optical error hypothesis presented by Oudejans et al. (2000). However, as we will elucidate here, they misinterpret this hypothesis and present a data set that is seriously flawed, and hence not suited to test it. Therefore, their conclusions regarding the optical error hypothesis are in error.     

The impact of referee training: reflections on the reduction of home advantage in association football

The effect of increased development and professionalization in elite Association Football referee training and the relationship with reduced home advantage in the English professional leagues were examined. The central aim was to chart the evolution of referee training, and how these developments in referee training have assisted in reducing home advantage. Interviews were conducted with elite and ex-elite referees, as well as those involved in the management, training and administration of elite referees in order to identify more recent adaptations to elite referee training and further explain the relationship between training and the reduction in home advantage. Findings indicate training and support is pronounced within elite refereeing has developed appreciably over time, and has contributed significantly to an increase in performance, decision-making correctness and subsequent decline in home advantage.     

The emergence and development of association football: influential sociocultural factors in Victorian Birmingham

This article explores the interdependent, complex sociocultural factors that facilitated the emergence and diffusion of football in Birmingham. The focus is the development of football in the city, against the backdrop of the numerous social changes in Victorian Birmingham. The aim is to fill a gap in the existing literature which seemingly overlooked Birmingham as a significant footballing centre, and the ‘ordinary and everyday’ aspects of the game’s early progression. Among other aspects, particular heed is paid to the working classes’ involvement in football, as previous literature has often focused on the middle classes and their influence on and participation in organized sport. As the agency of the working classes along with their mass participation and central role in the game’s development is unfolded, it is argued that far from being passive cultural beings, the working classes, from the beginnings, actively negotiated the development of their own emergent football culture.     

Playing With "patriotic fire": women and football in the Antipodes during the Great War

The revelation that women first played Australian Rules football during the period of the Great War is an important element in overall understandings of how both masculine and feminine ideals were challenged and redefined by sporting practices in a time of general social flux. This paper reveals that the genesis of the women's code was in Western Australia, where contests occurred as early as 1915. Three years later, with the war nearing its conclusion, the template of women's involvement in charity matches with strong military and patriotic overtones was adopted in the state of Victoria, the code's heartland. Investigations such as this one, indicative of the complex relationships between sport and gender during the First World War, offer scope for deeper comprehension of a much-studied military conflict, and point the way forward for those that bemoan the static agenda of research into women's football.     

Ending traditions: football and the study of football in the 1990s

John Williams and Stephen Wagg (eds.), British Football and Social Change: Getting into Europe (Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1991). Pp.258. £13.99 (paper). ISBN 0–7185–1410–6.

Steve Redhead (ed.), The Passion and the Fashion: Football Fandom in the New Europe (Aldershot: Arena, 1993). Pp.205. £29.95 (cloth) and £12.95 (paper). ISBN 1–85628–462‐X; 1–85628–464–6.

Alex Fynn and Lynton Guest, Out of Time: Why Football isn't Working (London: Simon and Schuster Pocket Books, revised edition, 1994). Pp.xiii + 400. £5.99 (paper). ISBN 0–671–85087–3.

John Sugden and Alan Tomlinson (eds.), Hosts and Champions: Soccer Cultures, National Identities and the USA World Cup (Aldershot: Arena, 1994). Pp.323. £35.00 (cloth); £14.95 (paper). ISBN 1–85742–227–9; 1–85742–228–7.

Richard Giulianotti and John Williams (eds.), Game Without Frontiers: Football Identity and Modernity (Aldershot: Arena, 1994). Pp.381 £35.00 (cloth); £14.95 (paper). ISBN 1–85742–219–8, 1–85742–220–1.

Richard Haynes, The Football Imagination: The Rise of Football Fanzine Culture (Aldershot: Arena, 1995). Pp.xi + 169. £29.95 (cloth); £12.95 (paper). ISBN 1–85742–212–0; 1–85742–213–9     

The association between watching football matches and the risk of cardiovascular events: A meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

To comprehensively shed light on whether viewing football games is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Electronic databases were searched through 17 May 2018. All studies focusing on the association between viewing football matches and the fatal or non-fatal CVD were identified. Viewing football matches was associated with a higher risk of fatal overall CVD (RR: 1.06, 95%CI: 1.01–1.12) in both men (RR: 1.13, 95%CI: 1.004–1.28) and women (RR: 1.08, 95%CI: 1.01–1.15). Subgroup analysis showed that failure of the team has a higher risk of fatal overall CVD (RR: 1.29, 95%CI: 1.15–1.45). However, lower risk of fatal overall CVD from spectators was observed when team obtained a victory (RR: 0.80, 95%CI: 0.66–0.96). For non-fatal CVD, viewing football matches was associated with a higher risk of non-fatal overall CVD (RR: 1.24, 95%CI: 1.09–1.41) in both men (RR: 1.73, 95%CI: 1.12–2.69) and women (RR: 1.25, 95%CI: 1.08–1.45). Subgroup analysis showed that viewing football matches was associated with a higher risk of non-fatal myocardial infarction (RR: 1.20, 95%CI: 1.04–1.38) in both men and women (RR: 1.51, 95%CI: 0.99–2.28; RR: 1.21, 95%CI: 1.08–1.36, respectively). No significant increase was found in fatal or non-fatal stroke. Viewing football matches was associated with a higher risk of the fatal and non-fatal CVD, especially in male spectators. The victory of team could have a lower risk of fatal CVD. Therefore, precautionary measures should be required for the reduction of healthcare burden in football matches.     

对"抬腿式停球"和"收腿式停球"技术动作的力学原理分析

"迎击式"与"迎撤式"两种"大腿停球"技术的基本力学原理,是长期以来被人们忽略的重要技术内容,对于这两种停球技术的力学研究与认识后.将会更有利于完成和完善足球教学和训练.     

Science and football: a review of applied research in the football codes

Over the last two decades there has been a growth in research directly related to football. Although most of this research is focused on soccer (association football), there has been a steady increase in publications related to the other football codes. There is evidence of more systematic training and selection influencing the anthropometric profiles of players who compete at the highest level. Fitness is being optimized to cope with match demands while accommodating the need for specific requirements of positional roles. There is evidence of work rate being higher in contemporary football games than in previous decades, with consequences for training and dietary practices. Notation analysis of actions during matches is now used regularly to provide detailed objective feedback on performance to players and coaches. Training regimens are designed for game-specific purposes where possible. Sports psychologists working in a football context have a more eclectic body of knowledge to draw from. In the professional soccer clubs, the rewards associated with a successful investment in youth academies have helped to focus attention on talent identification and development models. It is a challenge to those specializing in science and football to contribute to the success of such schemes.     

"An epoch in the annals of national sport": football in Sheffield and the creation of modern soccer and rugby

By the 1860s the two most prominent football cultures in Britain were in London and Sheffield. In 1863 the football culture in London created the Football Association, but within weeks a coup by those members who opposed a game that incorporated elements from that played at Rugby School led to the latter's supporters leaving. The fragmented FA continued to loose both members and influence and by 1867 was on the point of dissolving. By contrast, in terms of both rules and organization, the football culture of Sheffield was remarkably uniform and was the dominant centre of the game. The example set by Sheffield, coupled with the immense support that it provided to the ailing FA, enabled the London-based organization to survive and prosper.     

A systematic review of the technology-based assessment of visual perception and exploration behaviour in association football

To visually perceive opportunities for action, athletes rely on the movements of their eyes, head and body to explore their surrounding environment. To date, the specific types of technology and their efficacy for assessing the exploration behaviours of association footballers have not been systematically reviewed. This review aimed to synthesise the visual perception and exploration behaviours of footballers according to the task constraints, action requirements of the experimental task, and level of expertise of the athlete, in the context of the technology used to quantify the visual perception and exploration behaviours of footballers. A systematic search for papers that included keywords related to football, technology, and visual perception was conducted. All 38 included articles utilised eye-movement registration technology to quantify visual perception and exploration behaviour. The experimental domain appears to influence the visual perception behaviour of footballers, however no studies investigated exploration behaviours of footballers in open-play situations. Studies rarely utilised representative stimulus presentation or action requirements. To fully understand the visual perception requirements of athletes, it is recommended that future research seek to validate alternate technologies that are capable of investigating the eye, head and body movements associated with the exploration behaviours of footballers during representative open-play situations.     

经济学视角下遏制足坛不正当行为的研究

从经济学视角对我国足球职业联赛的特征、足坛出现“假、赌、黑”行为的原因进行了分析,认为足坛假赌黑行为屡禁不止是由于监管不力导致不正当行为收益远远大于成本的投入,提出通过提高不正当行为的法律制裁成本和经济处罚成本、减少不正当行为的成本收益、增加假赌黑不正当行为者的精神成本来达到遏制足坛假赌黑行为的目的.     

司法介入职业足球裁判"黑哨"的两个焦点问题

从法律法规角度出发，结合职业足球联赛的具体情况，分析探讨了中国足协、裁判身份的法律性质及裁判与中国足协的关系。结果表明：职业足球裁判在代表中国足协履行裁判工作职责期间属于国家工作人员；职业足球裁判“黑哨”行为不属于商业贿赂，对其以公司、企业人员受贿罪论处不恰当；我国相关法律在竞技体育领域中存在空白和漏洞，应进一步加强立法工作。     

"The fouled player should not take the penalty himself": an empirical investigation of an old German football myth

In this study, we investigate the old German football myth that the fouled player should not take the resulting penalty himself, as he is at an increased risk of missing. Previous analyses are improved on as we adjust for potential confounders that might influence self-taking as well as successful penalty conversion. Our findings reveal some important predictors for self-taking but, somewhat surprisingly, neither self-taking nor any of the potential confounders predicts scoring a penalty kick.     

Attention towards the goalkeeper and distraction during penalty shootouts in association football: a retrospective analysis of penalty shootouts from 1984 to 2012

In the present study, we tested the consequences of attention towards goalkeepers in association football penalty shootouts that have exclusively been derived from laboratory experiments. We conducted a retrospective analysis of all penalty shootouts during FIFA World Cups (1986–2010) and UEFA European Football Championships (1984–2012). We linked key variables of previous laboratory research to observable behaviour in the field that was coded by two independent coders. The following hypotheses were tested: first, attention towards goalkeepers results in more saves/better goalkeeper performance; second, goalkeepers can deliberately distract penalty takers by drawing attention towards themselves which results in less accurate penalty kicks/better goalkeeper performance. Results were in line with previous laboratory analyses as they showed that attention towards goalkeepers resulted in more saves/better goalkeeping performance. Further, if goalkeepers distracted penalty takers this also resulted in better goalkeeping performance. The applied implications of these findings are discussed for both goalkeepers and penalty takers in association football.