Danger zone assessment in small-sided recreational football: Providing data for consideration in relation to COVID-19 transmission

Abstract - During the COVID-19 pandemic, physical inactivity has increased, and a wide range of sporting activities locked down, with possible long-term implications for public health. Football is the most popular sport worldwide, and recreational football training leads to broad-spectrum health effects. Football is, however, deemed a contact sport with frequent close contact important to consider during COVID-19 pandemic. Objectives - This study investigated time spent with close contact (danger zone (DZ) within 1.5 m), number of contacts and time per contact, and compared game formats in recreational small-sided football games for young and adult male football players. Methods - Movement analyses were performed on 10 Hz Global Positioning System (GPS) data collected during various small-sided football games prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Results - Time spent in the DZ was 4.3–7.9 s/h per per cent infected players, corresponding to 34.3–114.8 s/h if one player was infected. Number of contacts with one infected player was 23.5–87.7 per hour, with an average contact time of 1.1–1.4 s, and a total number of contacts of 311–691 per hour with all players. 53%–65% of all contacts were shorter than 1 s and 77%–85% shorter than 2 s. Trivial to small effects were found for number of participants and area per player, whereas standard of play and playing with/without boards had no effect. Conclusion - This study demonstrated that during small-sided football limited time is spent within DZ and that player contacts are brief. Recreational football may therefore more appropriately be deemed as sporting activity with brief, sporadic contact

The Faroe Islands COVID-19 Recreational Football Study: Player-to-Player Distance, Body-to-Body Contact, Body-to-Ball Contact and Exercise Intensity during Various Types of Football Training for Both Genders and Various Age Groups

We determined player-to-player distance, body-to-ball contact, and exercise intensity during three training modalities in various football populations. 213 participants were recruited, ranging from 9-year-old boys to young men and 11-year-old girls to middleaged women. All groups were analysed with video-filming and GPS-based Polar Pro monitors during three types of football training for 20 min, i.e., COVID-19-modified training (CMT) with >2-metre player-to-player distance, small-sided games (SSG), and simulated match-play with normal rules (SMP), in randomised order. Time spent in a danger zone (1.5 m) perpercent-infected-player (DZ PPIP) ranged from 0.015 to 0.279% of playing time. DZ PPIP for SSG was higher (P < 0:05) than CMT and SMP. The average number of contacts (within 1.5 m) with a potentially infected player ranged from 12 to 73 contacts/hour. SSG had more (P < 0:05) contacts than CMT and SMP, with SMP having a higher (P < 0:05) number of contacts than CMT. Time/contact ranged from 0.87 to 3.00 seconds for the groups. No player-to-player and body-to-ball touches were registered for CMT. Total player-to-player contacts were 264% higher (P < 0:05) in SSG than SMP, ranging from 80 to 170 and 25 to 56 touches, respectively. In all groups, a greater total distance was covered during SMP compared to CMT (38–114%; P < 0:05). All groups performed more high-intensity running (33–54%; P < 0:05) and had higher heart rates during SMP compared to CMT. Different types of football training all appear to exert a minor COVID-19 infection risk; however, COVID-19-modified training may be safer than small-sided game training, but also match-play. In contrast, exercise intensity is lower during COVID-19-modified training than match-play