Information about a piece of news titled Significant increase of high-risk play over a 10-yr period
Significant increase of high-risk play over a 10-yr period
Intoduction
A new study published based on more than 600 hours of video analyses from matches in the 2000 and 2010 Norwegian professional male league revealed a significant increase of high-risk injury situations over the 10 years observation period.
A recent study from the Champions League showed that the injury incidence and pattern were stable during 7 seasons; in contrast, the incidence of acute match injuries has increased in Norwegian professional football found from 2002 to 2007, suggesting that the style of play may have changed during this period.
Medical staff reporting has shown that between 44% and 59% of all acute match injuries at the club level are caused by player-to-player contact.
An incident was recorded if the match was interrupted by the referee, and the player lay down for more than 15s, and appeared to be in pain or received medical treatment.
More than 600 hour of video analysis
- We collected videotapes of league matches prospectively throughout the 2000 and 2010 seasons for review, explained MD and PhD-student on this project, John Bjørneboe. In 2000, 174 (96%) matches were available on video, all 240 video tapes from matches in the 2010-season.
50% higher injury risk in 2010
A total of 1287 incidents were identified during the 2 seasons. The corresponding rate of incidents was 74 in the 2000-season versus 110 incidents per 1000 match hours in the 2010-season, which corresponds to a 50% increase over a 10-yrs period!
Also, more high-risk situations were seen on the field.
The authors concluded with an increased rate of incidents with a high injury potential in the 2010 season compared to the 2000 season.
Stricter rule enforcement necessary
- We observed a significantly higher rate of opponent-to-player contact and non-contact incidents in the 2010 season, but no change in the proportion of fouls or sanctions awarded by the referee, says John Bjørneboe.
- Based on these negative findings, we encourage an evaluation of the existing laws of the game and their enforcement in order to reduce injury risk adds MD and PhD-student Bjørneboe.
This study was conducted by Bjørneboe together with Roald Bahr and Thor Einar Andersen.