OBJECTIVES To determine (i) noise exposure levels of spectators at a FIFA 2010 designated training stadium during a premier soccer league match; and (ii) changes in auditory functioning after the match. METHODS This was a one-group pretest-post-test design of football spectators attending a premier soccer league match at a designated FIFA 2010 training stadium in Gauteng, South Africa. Indivi...

PURPOSE This study investigated the effect of the FIFA 11+ warm-up program on whole body muscle activity using positron emission tomography. METHODS Ten healthy male volunteers were divided into a control group and a group that performed injury prevention exercises (The 11+). The subjects of the control group were placed in a sitting position for 20 min and 37 MBq of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ...

I investigate the paradoxes associated with Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) point-based ranking of national soccer teams. The has been plagued that incentivize teams to avoid playing friendly matches, i.e., matches are not part any official FIFA tournament or preliminaries, and applying other counterintuitive strategies. most spectacular paradox was dramatic underrating...

PURPOSE The available scientific research regarding injury prevention practices in international football is sparse. The purpose of this study was to quantify current practice with regard to (1) injury prevention of top-level footballers competing in an international tournament, and (2) determine the main challenges and issues faced by practitioners in these national teams. METHODS A survey w...

OBJECTIVE To examine the use of medications and nutritional supplements among top-level male futsal players during international tournaments. MATERIALS AND METHODS This retrospective survey of the four consecutive 2000 to 2012 FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) Futsal World Cup tournaments analyzes data about the use of medications and nutritional supplements by each pla...

AIM This paper aims to outline the medical services provided at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, South Africa for the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) 2010 Soccer World Cup and audit the clinical services delivered to persons seeking medical assistance. METHODS Descriptive report of the medical facilities at the Moses Mabhida Stadium including the staff deployment. R...

The use of medication in international football has been monitored since the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Team physicians were asked to provide information on prescribed medication 72 h prior to each match for every player. 69% of adult male players reported using medication, with more than half the players using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Up to one-third of all players used NSAIDs...

Robotic soccer is nowadays a popular research domain in the area of multi-robot systems. In the context of RoboCup, the Middle Size League is one of the most challenging. This paper presents an efficient omnidirectional vision system for real-time object detection, developed for the robotic soccer team of the University of Aveiro, CAMBADA. The vision system is used to find the ball and white li...

BACKGROUND The FIFA has implemented an important antidoping programme for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. AIM To perform the analyses before and during the World Cup with biological monitoring of blood and urine samples. METHODS All qualified players from the 32 teams participating in the World Cup were tested out-of-competition. During the World Cup, 2-8 players per match were tested. Over 1000 s...

Communicable and non-communicable diseases place enormous social and economic burdens on developed and developing countries. Health education leading to changes in people's attitudes and behaviours remains the best approach for reducing the problem of communicable diseases while there is evidence that programmes providing regular physical exercise and advocating a controlled diet can reduce the...