Player Tracking Data Suggests Soccer Matches Are Safe From Coronavirus

As soccer leagues around the world resume following Coronavirus-enforced suspensions, the primary focus has been on the welfare of players.

Strict safety measures are being implemented such as mandatory face masks and regular testing, while all matches will take place behind-closed-doors for the immediate future.

The German Bundesliga is the most high-profile competition to resume action and so far three rounds of matches have been completed successfully and safely. The Premier League PINC and La Liga are set to resume in June, while other leagues are deciding whether to follow suit. All are adopting similar safety measures both for match environments and in training.

There are some who question whether it's possible for a contact sport like soccer to be completely safe when the risk of Covid-19 is present. Many players have understandably expressed concerns and some have elected not to return to training.

Minimal risk

However new research has suggested that the risk of ‘close encounters’ during a soccer match is minimal. Sports performance specialists Inmotio and the Dutch Soccer Association (KVNB) assessed player tracking data from every match from the country’s top-flight in the past two seasons.

Of the 482 Eredivisie matches assessed, just 0.2% of matches saw two players exposed to close contact for more than 30 seconds. For the purposes of the research, a close encounter is described as an interaction within 1 meter – the distance stated in the World Health Organization's (WHO) guidelines.

What’s more, many of these close encounters could be reduced. Between 50% and 80% of all close encounters are attributable to players convening for the results of referee decisions or those by video-assisted referees (VAR) and other game interruptions.

Reducing the time it takes for a corner to be taken can result in a 45% reduction while changing goal celebrations can deliver a 35% drop. The Bundesliga has told players to adopt social distancing when celebrating a goal already.

The Eredivisie has already voided its 2019-20 season with no champion declared and no teams relegated. This was in line with wider government measures in the country. However, the authors of the report say it could help soccer authorities around the world decide whether or not they want to resume matches.

“Player couples tend to cluster during moments of set pieces (corners), VAR decisions, celebrations of goals and injury treatments. Some of these moments can be reduced or eliminated by setting smart guidelines,” says Vincent van Renesse, Inmotio CEO.

“We hope our research will benefit many professional sports leagues across the globe and we are open to research this topic with other leagues and federations.”

Florian Goes who worked as a data scientist in the research group added: “Close encounters calculate the cumulative distance between player couples. We were able to research over one billion data points in 482 Eredivisie matches over the seasons 2018/2019 and 2019/2020.

“The next step is to research the training exercises, which enables us to determine whether we can provide optimized training situations for the Covid-19 period.”