Rot‐Jaune‐Verde: On linguistic bias of referees in Swiss soccer

Richard Faltings, Alex Krumer and Michael Lechner

Kyklos, 2023, vol. 76, issue 3, 380-406

Abstract: We utilize data from 5,010 soccer games in the top two Swiss divisions between the 2005/06 and 2018/19 seasons. In these games, a referee can share the same linguistic area with one of the teams. Using referee‐per‐season fixed effects, we find that referees issue significantly more penalties, in the form of yellow cards, to teams that are not from the referee's linguistic area. We also find some evidence, in the highest level league only, that referees issue more red cards to teams that are not from their linguistic area and that away teams achieve fewer points when home teams share the same linguistic area with the referee. Our analyses suggest that referees' bias is likely to be subconscious and reflexive rather than being a deliberate act of discrimination.

Date: 2023
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