Scientific research

Gaze behaviour of Referees in Sport - A review

The purpose of this review was to examine the literature on gaze behavior in referees. A literature search found only 12 relevant studies. Five of those studies were conducted on referees in association football (soccer), three on judges in gymnastics, one on softball umpires, and one each on referees in team handball, rugby, and ice hockey. Seven studies reported differences in gaze behavior between referees of a higher skill level and those of a lower skill level, while four studies found no differences. In addition, five studies reported differences between referees of different skill levels in both gaze behavior and performance, while four studies found differences in performance only. A number of methodological concerns arise from the current review. Among them are the lack of studies conducted in ecologically valid conditions, the lack of studies on peripheral vision, and the lack of data on referees who are working together as teams. Based on this review, we conclude that additional research is needed to clarify the relationships between gaze behavior and performance in refereeing. Practitioners who work with referees should be cautious when adopting gaze training strategies to improve selective attention, since the data on their effectiveness are scarce and sometimes contradictory.

The future for sport officiating research: an expertstatement

Research, coverage, and understanding in sport officiating related scholarly activity have increased markedly in the last decade. Sport officials (referees, judges, umpires) have been historically underrepresented in the sport management, psychology, and physiology literature, but this collection of experts provides avenues for collaboration and exploration that can contribute to understanding systems, individuals, and initiate real-world changes for sporting organisations, policy makers, and officials themselves. Focused and organised around the key research areas and priorities of physiology, decision making, psychology, mental health, management, and training and development, this statement offers detail on the development of the research and associated literature and provides proposals for future scholarship linked to each of the key research areas.