Control de carga física externa en árbitros de fútbol profesional durante partidos de primera división

Abstract

Soccer as a high-intensity and intermittent sport also requires referees to be in adequate physical condition. The objective of this quantitative, explanatory, correlational, longitudinal study was to determine the external physical load on professional referees during official matches, using a global positioning system (GPS). Seventeen males participated (age: 36.19 + 3.2 years; height: 1.79 + 0.04 m; weight: 80.07 + 4.32 kg); the physical load was recorded in 67 national first division matches. The results showed that, on average, the referees covered 11202 + 706 m; of which 1139 + 722 m were in high intensity and 85.19 + 65.26 m in sprint; in addition, they performed 22 + 10 accelerations and 23 + 9 decelerations per match. When correlating age and external physical load, there was a correlation with the variables: total distance covered (-0.231) and number of decelerations per game (-0.205). However, the correlation value for both cases was less than 0.25. It was concluded that the external load control by means of GPS in professional referees, makes it possible to objectify the workloads, in this case for national competition; highlighting that age would not be a determining factor in the physical performance of these athletes.