A numerical study of designs for sporting contests by Scarf, Philip, Mat Yusof, Muhammad, Bilbao, Mark

“…Operational Research may be used to compare different designs for a sporting contest or tournament.This paper considers a methodology for this purpose.We propose a number of tournament metrics that can be used to measure the success of a sporting contest or tournament, and describe how these metrics may be evaluated for a particular tournament design.Knowledge of these measures can then be used to compare competing designs, such as round-robin, pure knockout and hybrids of these designs.We show, for example, how the design of the tournament influences the outcome uncertainty of the tournament and the number of unimportant matches within the tournament.In this way, where new designs are proposed, the implications of these designs may be explored within a modelling paradigm.In football (soccer), the UEFA Champions League has adopted a number of designs over its 50 year history; the design of the tournament has been modified principally in response to the changing demands of national league football and television – the paper uses this particular tournament to illustrate the methodology.…”
Get full text

Two pillars of football’s popularity in Singapore : television viewership and amateur leagues by Tai, Qi Jun

“…Football/soccer’s popularity in Singapore is evidenced by the high television viewership and high participation rates (Sport Singapore, 2016). …”
Get full text

Effects of synchronous chanting and identity fusion on perceived ingroup formidability, outgroup threat, and parochial altruism among soccer fans by Bortolini, T, Newson, M, Tovar-Moll, F, Latgé-Tovar, S, Whitehouse, H, Moll, J, Fischer, R

“…Here we investigate: 1) whether a synchronous display is perceived as more formidable by ingroups and outgroups, and more threatening by outgroups, in a real-world context involving football (soccer) fans; 2) whether these perceptions extend to behavioral decisions towards ingroups and outgroups; and 3) whether ‘identity fusion’ with the ingroup moderates these relationships. …”

Comparison of fitness performance among young football players on national and club level / Mohamad Afiq Ruslan by Ruslan, Mohamad Afiq

Get full text

Bio-mechanics analysis of instep kicking among Malaysian football players by B. M., Deros, M. F. M., Ali, A., Ismail

“…In Malaysia, football (soccer) is becoming more professional. Past studies showed that the main cause of low quality games among Malaysian football players is lack of good kicking technique. …”
Get full text

Five-year cost-effectiveness analysis of the European Fans in Training (EuroFIT) physical activity intervention for men versus no intervention by Kolovos, S, Finch, AP, van der Ploeg, H, van Nassau, F, Broulikova, HM, Baka, A, Treweek, S, Gray, CM, Jelsma, JGM, Bunn, C, Roberts, GC, Silva, MN, Gill, JMR, Røynesdal, Ø, van Mechelen, W, Andersen, E, Hunt, K, Wyke, S, Bosmans, JE

“…This study aims to investigate the 5 year cost-effectiveness of EuroFIT, a program to improve physical activity tailored specifically for male football (soccer) fans compared to a no intervention comparison group.…”