Citation

Medina D, Pons E, Gomez A, Guitart M, Martin A, Vazquez-Guerrero J, Camenforte I, Carles B, Font R. Int. J. Sports Physiol. Perform. 2017; 12(8): 1115-1118.

Affiliation

Sports Science and Medical Department, FC Barcelona Sports, Barcelona, Spain.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

10.1123/ijspp.2016-0368

PMID

28051327

Abstract

Despite approval of the use of electronic personal tracking devices (EPTD) during competition by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), other team sport organizations and leagues have banned its use due to "safety concerns", with no evidence to support this assertion. The aim of the current brief report is to provide empirical evidence to support the wide-spread usage across all sports by examining safety issues concerning the use of EPTD in a multi-team sports club. A total of 5 outdoor football teams (first team, second team, under 19, under 18 and first team female) and 3 indoor multi-sport (basketball, futsal and handball) teams have been monitored; accounting for a total of 63.734 training hours and 12.748 game hours. A questionnaire was sent to all fitness coaches involved and the clinical history was reviewed for every medical issue reported. Six minor chest contusions were recorded in female football goalkeepers wearing the frontal chest trap (3,17 episodes per 1000 training hours). During training, three episodes of minor skin abrasion affecting the thoracic area due to wearing vests too tight were recorded in U-19 football team (0,21 episodes per 1000 hours) and two episodes in U-18 (0,39 per 1000 hours). It must be noted that none of these episodes resulted in lost days of training or games, neither required medical assistance. In conclusion, empirical evidence confirms EPTD is a safe technology to use across team sports.

Keywords: Soccer

Language: en