Sabotage in Tournaments with Heterogeneous Contestants: Empirical Evidence from the Soccer Pitch

Abstract

In this paper, we address the problem of sabotage in tournaments with heterogeneous contestants. In a first step, we develop a formal model, which yields the prediction that favorites exert higher productive effort, while underdogs are more tempted to engage in destructive actions (sabotage). This is because favorites have a higher return on productive effort and both types of effort are substitutes. In a second step, we use data from German professional soccer to test this prediction. In line with the model, we find that favorite teams win more tackles in a fair way, while underdog teams commit more fouls.

Misconduct and Leader Behaviour in Contests New Evidence from European Football

“…In contrast, the difference in bookmaker probability does not affect the dissent behaviour of contestants. These findings support previous findings on the effect of ability on sabotage (Balafoutas et al, 2012;Deutscher et al, 2013;Deutscher & Schneemann, 2015). However, our results provide more detailed information on the proposed underlying mechanism -contestants with a lower ability engage more in sabotaging the opponent.…”

“…We derive the difference in bookmaker probability from betting odds available on the website www.betexplorer.de, as it provides a comprehensive data base of historical betting odds covering all leagues and seasons in our data set. Betting odds have been used frequently in previous studies as a measure of relative team strength and proven to be a good predictor of the match outcome (Buraimo et al, 2010;Deutscher et al, 2013;Forrest, Goddard, & Simmons, 2005). A particular advantage of this measure is that it not only considers the respective teams' latest results, but also other relevant and recent information, such as injuries and fitness of (key) players, dismissals of coaches, etc.…”

“…Deutscher, Frick, Gürtler, and Prinz (2013) explicitly differentiate between effort compliant to the rules of the game (fair tackles) and sabotage (fouls) in football matches. Their results indicate that weak contestants engage more in sabotage, while contestants with greater abilities exert more compliant effort.…”

Sabotage in Contests: A Survey

“…An interesting result is derived by Deutscher et al (2013). In a theoretical model, they …nd that the more able contestants are sabotaged to a greater extent even in static two-player contests.…”

“…As sabotage can be understood as the opposite of help (because sabotage reduces another player's performance, whereas help increases it), their …ndings imply that sabotage is empirically relevant. This conclusion is con…rmed by numerous laboratory experiments (Harbring and Irlenbusch 2004, 2008Harbring et al 2007;Falk et al 2008;Vandegrift and Yavas 2010;Carpenter et al 2010;and Gürtler et al 2011), and …eld studies from sports (Balafoutas et al 2012;Brown and Chowdhury 2014;and Deutscher et al 2013). 6 Beviá and Corchón (2006) is an exception.…”