Relative Age Effect Analysis in the History of the Ballon d'Or (1956-2023).

Ballon d'Or is the most important individual award in football, and is a significant measure of excellence. From our knowledge, this is the first study that explored the relative age effect (RAE) throughout the history of the Ballon d'Or. A total of 1899 football players nominated for the award from the first edition in 1956 to the most recent edition (2023) were analyzed. To assess the RAE, the birthdate distributions were categorized into four trimesters. The comparison involved correcting for the uniform distribution using chi-square analysis, with Cramer's V serving as a measure of effect size. Standardized residuals were computed to identify quarters that exhibited significant deviation from the expected values. Odds Ratio and 95% confidence intervals were used to identify discrepancies between trimesters. The results indicated a pronounced presence of an RAE at the global level. However, the longitudinal analysis revealed variations in the behavior of the RAE over time. In the initial decades, there is an overrepresentation of players born in the last months of the year. Subsequently, there is no discernible RAE. In the most recent decades, there has been a clear resurgence of RAE, with an overrepresentation of players born in the first quarters of the year.

A new approach to study the relative age effect with the use of additive logistic regression models: A case of study of FIFA football tournaments (1908-2012).

The relative age effect plays an important role in the pursuit of excellence, providing advantage to athletes born at the beginning of the year or near the cut-off date. This phenomenon has been observed in areas such as sports, education or business. Traditionally, the chi-square test has been used to analyze whether there are statistically significant differences in the distribution of births in each of the four quarters of the year. However, this approach is limited, focusing only on the analysis of the response variable, without taking into account the effect of a set of predictive variables. In this paper a new approach is proposed to study the relative age effect with the use of a logistic regression additive model. The new method has been evaluated with a sample of 21,639 players involved in football tournaments organized by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) between 1908 and 2012. New conclusions have been established that the relative age effect exists regarding player age and the year of the competition in male FIFA competitions and its effect is dynamic and complex.

Los Músculos Isquiosurales y su Capacidad Profiláctica sobre la Translación Tibial Anterior en Lesión de Ligamento Cruzado Anterior: Una Revisión Sistemática / The Hamstrings Muscles and their Prophylactic Capacity on Anterior Tibial Translation in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury: A Systematic Review

La ruptura de ligamento cruzado anterior (LCA) es la lesión de rodilla más común que se trata de una reconstruc- ción quirúrgica. El objetivo principal de esta revisión fue analizar la importancia de la función de los músculos isquiosurales como factor de riesgo de posibles lesiones de LCA. Se llevó a cabo siguiendo las normas Preferred Reported Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta- analyses (PRISMA). La fuente de la recopilación de datos fue la consulta directa de las bases de datos Pubmed, Sportdiscus, Web of Science y Scopus. Para la recuperación documental, se utilizaron varias palabras clave y se evaluó la calidad de los estudios que fueron seleccionados mediante la escala PEDro. Los déficits de la función muscular en los músculos isquiosurales se han relacionado con una mayor translación tibial anterior y, como consecuencia, un incremento del estrés tensional sobre el LCA entre los 10° y 45° de flexión de rodilla. Una co-activación de los músculos isquiosurales con el músculo cuádriceps femoral puede ser de gran ayuda para reducir los factores de riesgo de la lesión LCA.

SUMMARY: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is the most common knee injury to undergo surgery in the sports setting. The main objective of this review was to analyze the importance of hamstring function as a risk factor for potential ACL injury. It was conducted following the Preferred Reported Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The source of data collection was direct consultation of the Pubmed, Sportdiscus, Web of Science and Scopus databases. For documentary retrieval, several key words were used and the quality of the studies that were selected was assessed using the PEDro scale. Muscle function deficits in the hamstrings have been related to increased anterior tibial translation and, as a consequence, increased tensional stress on the ACL between 10° and 45° of knee flexion. A co-activation of the hamstrings with the quadriceps may be helpful in reducing the risk factors for ACL injury.

Inconsistencies of the evaluation of home advantage in sports competitions under the three points per victory system.

A recent letter sent to the Journal of Human Kinetics' editor (Gómez & Pollard, 2014) warned about a supposed methodology error in the calculation of home advantage in football leagues used in Saavedra et al. (2013) and took the liberty of modifying the research's data. The aim of this letter is to demonstrate that the evaluation system of the home advantage proposed by Pollard (1986) contains serious inconsistencies when applied to competitions which give three points for a win and one point for a draw, as it is the case of the UEFA football leagues in the 21th century.

Calculating Home Advantage in the First Decade of the 21th Century UEFA Soccer Leagues.

Home advantage has been studied in different sports, establishing its existence and its possible causes. This article analyzes the home advantage in soccer leagues of UEFA countries in the first part of the 21st century. The sample of 52 countries monitored during a period of 10 years allows us to study 520 leagues and 111,030 matches of the highest level in each country associated with UEFA. Home advantage exists and is significant in 32 of the 52 UEFA countries, where it equals 55.6%. A decrease can be observed in the tendency towards home advantage between the years 2000 and 2010. Values between 55 and 56 were observed for home advantage in the top ten leagues in Europe. It has also been observed that home advantage depends on the level of the league evaluated using UEFA's 2010/11 Country coefficients. The home advantage is calculated taking into account the teams' position and the points obtained in each of the leagues. A direct relationship was observed with the number of points gained and an inverse relationship was observed with the team position.

Anthropometric analysis and performance characteristics to predict selection in young male and female handball players

Abstract The aim of this study was two-fold. The first aim was to determine if there were any anthropometric and physical performance differences (controlling for maturation) between male and female handball players selected in training categories as well asthe relation of these differences with the performance level achieved. The second aim was to identify the discriminatory variables between the performance levels achieved. A total of 216 young handball players (125 men and 91 women) participated in the study. The data were classified by selection level (regional n=154; national n=62), gender (men; women) and age category (under-15; under-17). The use of MANCOVA analyses, controllingfor maturation, identified how gender could determine variables related to handball players' future competitive levels. The results revealed that anthropometric variables such as height, arm span, trochanter height, thigh girth, and leg girth were more influential in men than in women. In addition, the physical performance tests of vertical jump (squat jump and counter movement jump with/without arm) and 10x5m shuttle run were determinants in both sexes. Discriminatory analysis predicted that a combination of five variables (counter movement jump with arm, body mass, 10x5m shuttle run, dominant hand length and trochanter height) would successfully distinguish between regional and national players, with a predictive accuracy of 81.9% for all players.