Are referees unfair to away teams? Evidence from the Premier League

Gahyun Choi, Kwangwon Ahn, Hanwool Jang, Daniel S. Kim*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

This study examines the contribution of the crowd effect to home advantage in the English Premier League. Using the coronavirus 2019 pandemic as a natural experiment, we test crowd effects based on the changes in the number of audiences. We find that the difference in the number of audiences has an impact on the players’ performance, leading to the home advantage. Different from previous studies, which report a referee bias induced by crowd effect, our findings suggest that the crowd effect has no direct influence on referees. Specifically, more yellow cards against away teams results from more aggressive plays by these teams, a response to performance suppression by the home crowd. Findings suggest that social pressures caused by the crowd effect influence only players, not referees.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMathematical Modeling in Physical Sciences. ICMSQUARE 2023
EditorsDimitrios Vlachos
PublisherSpringer International
Pages105-111
Number of pages7
ISBN (Electronic)9783031529658
ISBN (Print)9783031529641
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 24 May 2024
Event12th International Conference on Mathematical Modeling in Physical Sciences - Historical Hotel Moskva, Belgrade, Serbia
Duration: 28 Aug 202331 Aug 2023

Publication series

NameSpringer Proceedings in Mathematics and Statistics
Volume446
ISSN (Print)2194-1009
ISSN (Electronic)2194-1017

Conference

Conference12th International Conference on Mathematical Modeling in Physical Sciences
Abbreviated titleICMSQUARE 2023
Country/TerritorySerbia
CityBelgrade
Period28/08/2331/08/23

Keywords

  • Crowd effect
  • Football
  • Home advantage
  • Referee bias

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Mathematics

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