Information about a piece of news titled Stricter rule enforcement reduced head injuries in professional football
Stricter rule enforcement reduced head injuries in professional football
Intoduction
A recent study from the OSTRC published in British Journal of Sports Medicine could reveal a 28% reduction in arm-to-head incidents after introducing a stricter interpretation of the rules in Norwegian professional male football.
50% higher risk of dangerous play
Following the Norwegian professional league for a decade now, something had to be done to reduce the high risk of acute match injuries.
Previous research conducted by the same project group demonstrated that the risk of acute match injuries has increased.
Furthermore, comprehensive video analyses of more than 600 hours of match play showed that injuries caused by opponent-to-player contact had increased by 50% from 2000 to 2010 in the top league.
Red card for high elbow and late/2-foot tackles
The aim for the 2011-season was to assess whether a stricter interpretation of the Laws of the Game (red cards for high elbows in heading duels and for late and/or two foot tackles) could reduce the potential for injuries in Norwegian male professional football.
The plans for stricter rule enforcement were introduced to each of the 14 teams in meetings with referees appointed for the 2011-season (March-November).
A pre-/post-intervention design was employed, where the rate of incidents and injuries from the 2010-season (pre) was compared to the 2011-season (post).
What is an incident?
An incident was recorded if the match was interrupted by the referee, and the player lay down for more than 15 seconds, and appeared to be in pain or received medical treatment. Time-loss injuries were recorded by the medical staff of each club.
Stricter rule enforcement works
A total of 1421 contact incidents were identified, corresponding to 93 incidents per 1000 match hours in the 2010 season and 87 incidents in the 2011 season, with no difference between the 2 seasons.
However, fewer high-risk injury situations were obeserved in 2011.
- We found a 19% reduction in the incidence of total head incidents, and a 28% reduction in head-incidents caused by arm-to-head contact.
Promising approach for other leagues?
As such a comprehensive video analysis of injuries and incidents with a high potential of injury has not been evaluated in leagues with a higher injury rate compared to Tippeligaen, the authors therefore suggest that a similar approach to stricter rule enforcement is included and evaluated in a league or tournament with higher injury risk.
This study was led by MD and PhD-student John Bjørneboe together with Roald Bahr and Thor Einar Andersen.
Download the publication in BJSM (pdf).