title: Call Accuracy and Distance from the Play: A Study with Brazilian Soccer Referees.
abstract: Refereeing decisions in soccer has always been a controversial issue. In order to better understand this subject, foul calls made by Brazilian soccer referees were evaluated to determine the potential relationship between the distance from the referee to a foul play and the accuracy of the call. Soccer matches supervised by the São Paulo State Football Federation were recorded and 321 foul calls were analyzed. No significant association was found between the referee's distance from a foul play and accuracy of the call (p= 0.561). However, there was a significant increase in the number of correct calls in the last 15 minutes of the second half compared with the number of correct calls in the first 30 minutes of the same half (p= 0.003).
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Movement Sciences, United Metropolitan Colleges, São Paulo, BRAZIL.
authors.forename: Mario Cesar
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: DE Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, BRAZIL.
authors.forename: Rogerio
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Orbetelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, BRAZIL.
authors.forename: Turibio Leite
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: DE Barros Neto
keywords: Decision-making skills; fitness level; match analysis; peripheral vision