Rule violations as a cause of injuries in male norwegian professional football: are the referees doing their job?
BACKGROUND
Foul play is an important cause of injury in football. Reduction of foul play and adherence to the laws of the game may be possible interventions to reduce the rate of injuries.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate how violations of the laws of the game contribute to injury and to investigate whether the decisions made by the referees are correct in high-risk situations.


METHODS
Prospective cohort study.


METHODS
Videotapes and injury information were collected for 174 of 182 matches from the male Norwegian professional league during the 2000 season. Three Norwegian FIFA referees performed retrospective blinded evaluation of the 406 incidents.


RESULTS
Less than one-third of the injuries identified on video and about 40% of the incidents with a high risk of injury resulted in a free kick being awarded. About 1 in 10 of these situations led to either a yellow or red card. The agreement between decisions made by the match referee and the expert referee panel was good, that is, their decisions agreed in 85% of the situations in which injury occurred.


CONCLUSIONS
There may be a need for an improvement of the laws of the game of football to protect players from dangerous play.
Andersen
Thor Einar
TE
Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center, Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education, Olso, Norway.
Engebretsen
Lars
L
Bahr
Roald
R
D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012916:Soccer / Q000293:injuries*; D014741:Video Recording