London, June 26 (IANS) The change in the system used to reward wins in the European football leagues, going from two to three points, has led to an increase in dirty play, a study by the University of Oviedo reveals.
The researchers compiled data from Spanish league matches during the 94/95 season (the last season in which the winning team received two points) and in 95/96 (the season when a win started to be assigned three points) using official match data.
It shows the number of yellow and red cards per match, as well as the minutes when these were given and information about the minutes in the match when goals are scored.
‘The objective ( to award more points) was to give greater incentives for attacking play and goal-scoring, but the change has had negative effects, such as the increase in dirty play.’ says Juan Prieto, study co-author and University of Oviedo (UO) researcher.
‘There was a significant change in the number of red cards given during the second season in comparison with the first. We can see there has been an increase in red cards given to teams that are winning, and this can easily be attributed to the change in the points system,’ Prieto says, according to a university release.
‘If football teams achieve greater relative value for winning a match, this incentive can have unanticipated and negative effects on the game, as has happened in the Spanish league,’ he says.
His team used the number of yellow and red cards per match, as well as the minutes when these were issued and information about the minutes in the match when goals were scored as an indicator of ‘sabotage’ in the matches.
‘This allows us to find out the precise moment at which a red card was given, and also to observe whether this happened when the receiving team was behind or ahead on the scoreboard, if they were losing or making a comeback,’ Prieto said.
This kind of point system is also used in the ongoing FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
‘If wins are important in a league of 38 matches, with 20 teams playing, then they take on much greater importance in a World Cup. Given that only three matches are played in the first round, drawing or winning makes much more impact,’ the researcher concludes.
These findings were published in the Journal of Sports Economics.
