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Under pressure: External influences and career concerns for refereeing activities in Brazilian football

August 2020

This paper is the result of a scientific initiation research project conducted under the supervision of Bruno de Paula Rocha, Ph.D. (BCE/CECS/UFABC), from May 2017 to May 2021. The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (grant no. 2018/02696-6) from April 2018 to March 2019.

This study evaluates refereeing behaviour in Brazilian football. Previous research has used sports data to analyse decision-making under pressure and found evidence of refereeing bias in favour of home teams. Using data from the 2015 to 2017 editions of the Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol (Brasileirão Série A), this study investigates whether referees systematically favour home teams by awarding a disproportionate number of penalties against visiting teams. Additionally, it examines how external factors, such as monitoring and referee experience, influence decision-making.

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