If there’s no one to watch a brawl between footballers, is the brawl even worth having?
European football players were less likely to engage in quarrelsome behaviour during COVID-19’s ‘ghost matches’, a study has found.
Having no audience resulted in less extensive emotional behaviour and interactions, with fewer arguments and heated exchanges between players, a study of the Austrian Bundesliga football team found.
The study analysed 10 games played by FC Red Bull Salzburg between 2018 and 2019 and ten ghost games played during the COVID-19 era.
There were 19.5% fewer spats with opposing players or referees in ghost games than in regular games.
Referees had to intervene in 39.4% “emotional situations” during normal matches but were only involved in 25.2% of fights during ghost matches.
There were also fewer red and yellow cards issued during COVID games, the study found.
“Without the external factor of supporters, players and staff stayed calm more often and got less carried away with arguments and discussions, which decreased by 4.7% and 5.1%, respectively,” said first study author Michael Leitner.
“Our evidence indicates that – from a sport psychological perspective – the absence of supporters has a substantial influence on the behaviour of players, staff and officials.”
Turns out booing at players makes them more aggressive… Who knew?
If you see something stupid, say something stupid… Send positive COVID research to felicity@medicalrepublic.com.au.
