The Effect of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Position-Specific Match Running Performance of Professional Football Players; Preliminary Observational Study

Damir Sekulic, Sime Versic, Andrew Decelis, Jose Castro-Piñero, Dejan Javorac, Goran Dimitric, Kemal Idrizovic, Igor Jukic and Toni Modric
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Damir Sekulic: Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
Sime Versic: Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
Andrew Decelis: Institute for Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Education, University of Malta, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta
Jose Castro-Piñero: GALENO Research Group, Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Cádiz, Avenida República Saharaui s/n, 11519 Puerto Real, Spain
Dejan Javorac: Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Goran Dimitric: Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Kemal Idrizovic: Faculty for Sport and Physical Education, University of Montenegro, 81400 Niksic, Montenegro
Igor Jukic: Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Toni Modric: Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 22, 1-9

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted professional football in the 2019/2020 season, and football experts anticipate that the consequences of lockdown measures will negatively affect the physical performance of players once competition restarts. This study aimed to evaluate position-specific match running performance (MRP) to determine the effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on the physical performance of professional football players. Players’ MRPs ( n = 124) were observed in matches before and after the COVID-19 lockdown in the 2019/2020 season of the highest level of national competition in Croatia and were classified according to player position: central defenders (CD; n = 42), fullbacks (FB; n = 20), midfielders (MF; n = 46), and forwards (FW; n = 16). The MRPs were measured using Global Positioning System, and included the total distance covered, low-intensity running (?14.3 km/h), running (14.4–19.7 km/h), high-intensity running (?19.8 km/h), total accelerations (>0.5 m/s 2 ), high-intensity accelerations (>3 m/s 2 ), total decelerations (less than –0.5 m/s 2 ), and high-intensity decelerations (less than –3 m/s 2 ). The results indicated that, in matches after the COVID-19 lockdown, (i) CDs and FBs featured lower running and high-intensity running (t-value: from 2.05 to 3.51; all p < 0.05; moderate to large effect sizes), (ii) MFs covered a greater distance in low-intensity running and achieved a lower number of total accelerations, and total and high-intensity decelerations (t-value: from –3.54 to 2.46; all p < 0.05, moderate to large effect sizes), and (iii) FWs featured lower high-intensity running (t-value = 2.66, p = 0.02, large effect size). These findings demonstrate that the physical performances of football players from the Croatian first division significantly decreased in matches after the COVID-19 lockdown. A combination of inadequate adaptation to football-specific match demands and a crowded schedule after the competition was restarted most likely resulted in such an effect.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; match running performance; soccer; match demands (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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