Probiotics in football (soccer): a survey on practitioner's current perceptions and practices

Probiotic supplementation is attracting increasing attention among sports science and performance practitioners for its potential to support gut and immune function, adaptation to training, recovery and exercise performance. Purpose: To investigate the perceptions, as well as the current and common practices of practitioners supporting elite soccer teams regarding probiotic supplements. Sixty football practitioners from 5 different countries participated in a study consisting of a survey including 5 domains: demographic and professional characteristics (Who); perceptions about probiotics for health and performance (Why); methodological procedures about probiotics (What); mode of supplementation (How) and real-life practices about probiotics supplementation (When). Data revealed 5 main findings: (1) overall agreement on the importance of probiotics for soccer players (80.0%) and on the consumption under the practitioner's supervision (76.8%); (2) lack of consensus about the effects on athletic performance and recovery; (3) strong agreement on the use of probiotics to treat diarrhea (61.0%) and gastrointestinal symptoms (66.1%); (4) reported preference for multi-strain and multi-species probiotic supplements (85.2%); and (5) daily dosing frequency (one dose per day; 69.1%) and a preference for capsule formulations (83.3%). Probiotic use is highly prevalent among professional teams and is largely supervised by practitioners, with a strong emphasis on gut and immune health. However, despite this widespread adoption, there remains considerable uncertainty and limited consensus regarding optimal strains, dosing strategies, timing, and the potential effects on athletic performance, sleep and recovery. These findings highlight a clear practice-evidence gap, underscoring the need for high-quality, soccer-specific research and enhanced practitioner education for probiotic use in professional soccer.