The impact of video speed on the decision-making process of sports officials

Abstract

There is an increasing trend in association football (soccer) to assist referees in their decision-making with video technology. For decisions such as whether a goal has been scored or which player actually committed a foul, video technology can provide more objective information and be valuable to increase decisional accuracy. It is unclear, however, to what extent video replays can aid referee decisions in the case of foul-play situations in which the decision is typically more ambiguous. In this study, we specifically evaluated the impact of slow-motion replays on decision-making by referees. To this end, elite referees of five different countries (n = 88) evaluated 60 different foul-play situations taken from international matches, replayed in either real time or slow motion. Our results revealed that referees penalized situations more severely in slow motion compared to real time (e.g. red card with a yellow card reference decision). Our results provide initial evidence that video replay speed can have an important impact on the disciplinary decision given by the referee in case of foul play. The study also provides a real-life test-case for theories and insights regarding causality perception.

The impact of video review in karate kumite during a Premier League competition

“…In soccer, it was found that decision-making accuracy was higher in slow motion than in real time (Spitz et al, 2017). However, another study reported that foul-play situations in soccer were penalised more severely in slow motion than in real time (Spitz et al, 2018). In karate kumite, the judges have to consider whether the "vigorous application" criterion is met for a performed technique, and this is challenging to determine when reviewing a slow-motion video.…”

Influence of Video Speeds on Visual Behavior and Decision-Making of Amateur Assistant Referees Judging Offside Events

“…To do this, the learning task designs should state clear previously what video speed thresholds are more adequate to enhance decision accuracy for expert and amateur assistant referees. This study represents another step to elucidate this question, trying to add new evidence for a better design of perceptual training programs in development of skills in assistant referees because the influence of video speed manipulations in referees’ decision-making has received sparse interest in the literature ( Spitz et al, 2018 ).…”

“…The mean duration of the video sequences of offside events was about 7 s, lasting between 4 and 12 s depending on the video speed manipulation. For example, if a normal speed clip was 12 s in duration, then, the edited version of 3x that speed, was completed in 4 s. If it was edited to 2x the normal speed, then the film sequence was completed in 6 s. These temporal interval values were similar to those used by Spitz et al (2018) in judgments of foul-play situations (e.g., 3.08 s in real-time and 12.32 s in slow-motion).…”

“…These authors concluded that training interventions for expert officials should decrease the video speed to improve response accuracy rather than increasing or varying the video speed manipulations. More recently, Spitz et al (2018) concluded that elite referees judged ambiguous foul-play situations more severely in slow-motion replays than in real-time.…”

The Features of Perceptual Processes During Qualitative Biomechanical Analysis

“…Каждому эксперту были показаны пять видеозаписей бега, а затем пять видеозаписей скелетонов в режиме замедленного воспроизведения в случайном порядке [24]. Задачей эксперта было запомнить отличительные признаки техники каждого из пяти спортсменов, а затем сопоставить с видеозаписями скелетонов.…”