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Two Years of COVID-19 Pandemic: How the Brazilian Serie A Championship Was Affected by Home Advantage, Performance

Aldo Coelho Silva1, Adriana Souza Amaral2, Lucas Alves Facundo2

  • 1Grupo de Estudos e Pesquisas Aplicadas em Futebol, Departamento de Educação Física, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá 87020-900, Brazil.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
|August 26, 2022
PubMed

Insights

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted Brazilian Serie A soccer, reducing home advantage (HA) in 2020 and 2021. Crowded matches showed higher HA, more shots, and more goals compared to empty stadiums.

Area of Science:

  • Sports Science
  • Socioeconomic Impacts of Pandemics

Background:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global sports, including the Brazilian Serie A soccer league, leading to matches played without spectators.
  • Home advantage (HA), a well-documented phenomenon in sports, may have been affected by the absence of crowds.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on home advantage in the Brazilian Serie A.
  • To compare home advantage, team performance, and disciplinary records between seasons with and without crowds.
  • To examine the association between athlete absences due to health protocols and home advantage.

Main Methods:

  • Calculated home advantage using the Pollard method for the 2018-2021 seasons.
  • Compared performance metrics (goals, corners, shots, ball possession) and disciplinary data (fouls, cards) between rounds with and without crowds.
  • Assessed the correlation between athlete absences and home advantage in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Main Results:

  • Home advantage was significantly higher in the 2018 season compared to 2019, 2020, and 2021.
  • Matches played with crowds exhibited greater home advantage than those in the preceding two seasons.
  • Teams averaged more shots and goals in matches with crowds versus those without.
  • No significant association was found between the number of athletes absent due to health protocols and home advantage.

Conclusions:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic altered home advantage dynamics in the Brazilian Serie A, with crowd presence playing a notable role.
  • While player absences did not correlate with home advantage, the overall impact of the pandemic on soccer performance and outcomes was evident.

Keywords:
COVID-19disciplinary aspectsfootballhome-field advantageperformance analysis

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