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

• Published in: BioMed Research International
• Main Authors: Mohr, Magni, Sjúrðarson, Tórur, Leifsson, Eli N., Randers, Morten B., Knudsen, Nikolas Sten, Thomasen, Manuel Mounir Demetry, Panduro, Jeppe, Larsen, Malte Nejst, Andersen, Thomas Bull, Krustrup, Peter
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Athletic Performance/physiology; COVID-19/diagnosis; Child; Denmark; Female; Football/physiology; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Physical Fitness/physiology; Risk Assessment/statistics & numerical data; Young Adult; Faroe Islands
• Online Access: https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/da/publications/038b0300-cdd0-448f-bfd3-5ccf9f86de0a; https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/6822385; https://findresearcher.sdu.dk/ws/files/200630417/6822385.pdf

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 middle-aged 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) per-percent-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.