Analysis of the success in soccer match officials’ decisions during an international tournament according to contextual factors

  1. Daniel Castillo 1
  2. Javier Raya-González 1
  3. Oidui Usabiaga 2
  4. Jesús Cámara-Tobalina 2
  5. Julen Castellano-Paulis 2
  6. Javier Yanci-Irigoyen 2
  1. 1 Universidad Internacional Isabel I de Castilla
    info

    Universidad Internacional Isabel I de Castilla

    Burgos, España

    ROR https://ror.org/055sgt471

  2. 2 Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
    info

    Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

    Lejona, España

    ROR https://ror.org/000xsnr85

Journal:
RICYDE. Revista Internacional de Ciencias del Deporte

ISSN: 1885-3137

Year of publication: 2019

Issue Title: Julio

Volume: 15

Issue: 57

Pages: 225-234

Type: Article

DOI: 10.5232/RICYDE2019.05701 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

More publications in: RICYDE. Revista Internacional de Ciencias del Deporte

Sustainable development goals

Abstract

This study examined the reliability of the ARBI.e tool as a notational system to observe, code and analyse match officials decisions in soccer, and analysed the degree of success in referee decisions during an international tournament according to contextual factors (e.g., period of the match, competition phase and score) and the zone of the soccer field. Sixty international field referees (FR) and assistant referees (AR) were analysed in this study. Referee decisions were registered during thirty soccer matches of an international tournament and categorized (e.g., FR, AR and other decisions) for further analysis. The tool ARBI.e was an ad hoc tool created by the authors to assess match official decisions. Cohen’s Kappa statistic showed values of 0.914-1.00 and 0.827-1.00 for intra-observer and inter-observer analysis, respectively. Despite the high level of success in both FR and AR (95%), some decisions, such as simulations or offside, showed substantially lower success values (64% and 92%, respectively). Besides, match officials’ decisions success was not influenced by the period of the match, tournament phase and score or indeed by the zone of the soccer field. The results obtained suggest the need to include activities based on decision-making skills, mainly in simulations, in training programs to optimize international match officials´ decision making.

Bibliographic References

  • Anguera, M. T.; Blanco-Villaseñor, A.; Hernández-Mendo, A., & López-Losada, J. L. (2011). Diseños observacionales: ajuste y aplicación en psicología del deporte. Cuadernos de Psicología del Deporte, 11(2), 63–76.
  • Buraimo, B.; Forrest, D., & Simmons, R. (2010). The 12th man?: refereeing bias in English and German soccer. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (Statistics in Society), 173(2), 431–449. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-985X.2009.00604.x
  • Buraimo, B.; Simmons, R., & Maciaszczyk, M. (2012). Favoritism and referee bias in european soccer: evidence from the spanish league and the uefa champions league. Contemporary Economic Policy, 30(3), 329–343. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7287.2011.00295.x
  • Canovas, S.; Reynes, E.; Ferrand, C.; Pantaléon, N., & Long, T. (2008). Types of errors by referees and perception of injustice by soccer players: a preliminary study. Psychological Reports, 102(1), 99–110. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.102.1.99-110
  • Castagna, C.; Abt, G., & D’Ottavio, S. (2007). Physiological aspects of soccer refereeing performance and training. Sports Medicine, 37(7), 625–46.
  • Castellano, J.; Perea, A.; Alday, L., & Hernández-Mendo, A. (2008). The measuring and observation tool in sports. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 898–905.
  • Castillo, D.; Castagna, C.; Cámara, J.; Iturricastillo, A., & Yanci, J. (2018). Influence of team’s rank on soccer referees’ external and internal match loads during official matches. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 32(6), 1715–1722. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002040
  • Castillo, D.; Yanci, J.; Casajús, J. A., & Cámara, J. (2016). Physical fitness and physiological characteristics of soccer referees. Science & Sports, 31(1), 27–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SCISPO.2015.11.003
  • Catteeuw, P.; Gilis, B.; García-Aranda, J.-M.; Tresaco, F.; Wagemans, J., & Helsen, W. (2010). Offside decision making in the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. Journal of Sports Sciences, 28(10), 1027–1032. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2010.491084
  • Catteeuw, P.; Gilis, B.; Wagemans, J., & Helsen, W. (2010). Offside decision making of assistant referees in the English Premier League: impact of physical and perceptualcognitive factors on match performance. Journal of Sports Sciences, 28(5), 471–481. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410903518184
  • Catteeuw, P.; Helsen, W.; Gilis, B., & Wagemans, J. (2009). Decision-making skills, role specificity, and deliberate practice in association football refereeing. Journal of Sports Sciences, 27(11), 1125–1136. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410903079179
  • Coleclough, J. (2013). Soccer coaches’ and referees’ perceptions of tackle incidents with respect to the laws of the game. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 13(2), 553–566. https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2013.11868669
  • FIFA. (2000). Regulations on the Organisations of Refereeing in FIFA Member Associations. Retrieved from: https://resources.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/01/28/10/42/defs_regulationsorganisationrefereeinginfifama_inhalt.pdf
  • Gilis, B.; Helsen, W.; Catteeuw, P.; Van Roie, E., & Wagemans, J. (2009). Interpretation and application of the offside law by expert assistant referees: perception of spatial positions in complex dynamic events on and off the field. Journal of Sports Sciences, 27(6), 551–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410802702178
  • Harriss, D., & Atkinson, G. (2015). Ethical standards in sport and exercise science research: 2016 Update. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 36(14), 1121–1124. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0035-1565186
  • Helsen, W., & Bultynck, J.-B. (2004). Physical and perceptual-cognitive demands of topclass refereeing in association football. Journal of Sports Sciences, 22(2), 179–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410310001641502
  • Hüttermann, S.; Noël, B., & Memmert, D. (2017). Evaluating erroneous offside calls in soccer. PloS One, 12(3), e0174358. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0174358
  • Lago-Peñas, C., & Gómez-López, M. (2016). The Influence of referee bias on extra time in elite soccer matches. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 122(2), 666–77. https://doi.org/10.1177/0031512516633342
  • Mallo, J.; Frutos, P. G.; Juárez, D., & Navarro, E. (2012). Effect of positioning on the accuracy of decision making of association football top-class referees and assistant referees during competitive matches. Journal of Sports Sciences, 30(13), 1437–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2012.711485
  • Martínez-Gallego, R.; F Guzmán, J.; James, N.; Pers, J.; Ramón-Llin, J., & Vuckovic, G. (2013). Movement characteristics of elite tennis players on hard courts with respect to the direction of ground strokes. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 12(2), 275– 81.
  • Oudejans, R.; Bakker, F.; Verheijen, R.; Gerrits, J.; Steinbrückner, M., & Beek, P. (2005). How position and motion of expert assistant referees in soccer relate to the quality or their offside judgements during actual match play. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 36(1), 3–21.
  • Pietraszewski, P;, Roczniok, R.; Maszczyk, A.; Grycmann, P.; Roleder, T.; Stanula, A.; … Ponczek, M. (2014). The elements of executive attention in top soccer referees and assistant referees. Journal of Human Kinetics, 40(1), 235–43. https://doi.org/10.2478/hukin-2014-0025
  • Van Meerbeek, R.; Van Gool, D., & Bollens, J. (1987). Analysis of the refereeing decisions during the world soccer championship in 1986 in Mexico. In T. Reilly, A. Lees, K. Davids, & W. J. Murphy (Eds.), Science and Football (pp. 377-382). London: E & FN Spon.
  • Vučković, G.; James, N.; Hughes, M.; Murray, S.; Sporiš, G., & Perš, J. (2013). The effect of court location and available time on the tactical shot selection of elite squash players. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 12(1), 66–73.
  • Weston, M.; Castagna, C.; Impellizzeri, F. M.; Bizzini, M.; Williams, A. M., & Gregson, W. (2012). Science and medicine applied to soccer refereeing: an update. Sports Medicine, 42(7), 615–31. https://doi.org/10.2165/11632360-000000000-00000