Arbitration in sports competitions: A systematic review

Abstract

The presence of a referee is essential for the operation of all types of organized sports competition, ranging from children's sports to high-level professional sports. The absence of arbitration distorts the regulatory and competitive character of sports practice. By playing an important role in the sporting context and because they are people, scientific productions on arbitration contribute to improving the performance of referees and understanding the factors that influence the performance and efficiency of arbitration. The objective of this systematic review is to investigate the scientific production on sports arbitration, seeking to identify the sports and subjects published. This research is a systematic review in Scielo, Science Direct and Pubmed databases. 291 were selected. The survey results revealed an increase in publications about arbitration in the last 5 years (2015-2020). Football is the predominant sport, reinforcing the concept of massification of the sport in the world. The research also showed that studies about refereeing prioritize decision-making and the subjects' physiological aspects, leaving large gaps to be filled, such as the psychological aspects and the training of referees, aspects that are decisive for the good performance.