How Low is On-Field COVID-19 Transmission Risk?

The risk of transmission the SARS-CoV-2 during a soccer match is very low, according to a new study.

The researchers of “Risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from on-field player contacts in amateur, youth and professional football (soccer)” say any sources of infections in soccer players are most likely not related to game play.

The study, which was published on October 18, 2021, in The British Journal of Sports Medicine, investigated the risk of transmission among potentially infectious SARS-CoV-2-positive football players while participating in training or matches at amateur, youth and professional levels.

The researchers first identified soccer players in Germany who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 between August 2020 and March 2021 and participated in matches or training during a period of potential contagiousness. Then video analysis was used to determine transmission-relevant contacts.

Of the 1,247 identified football matches and training sessions which included 1,071 at amateur and youth level and 176 at professional level, a total of 104 cases with 165 potentially infectious players were detected. The cases occurred at 38 training sessions and 66 matches.

With follow-up PCR testing, it was determined that there was no transmission at the professional level. At the amateur and youth level, however, a combination of partial PCR testing (31 of 60 cases) and symptom monitoring within 14 days post-exposure (46 of 60 cases) identified 2 of 60 matches where there were follow-up infections. These cases were attributed to non-football activities though, the researchers reported.

Video analysis showed that frontal contacts were less than 1 per player-hour (88%, 30 of 34 players). And each only lasted no longer than 3 seconds.

“On-field transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2 in football is very low. Sources of infections in football players are most likely not related to activities on the pitch,” the researchers wrote.

The researchers involved in the study included Sebastian Schreiber, Tim Meyer and Florian Egger of the Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine, Saarland University, Saarbrucken, Germany. Oliver Faude of the department of sport, exercise and health at the University of Basel in Basel, Switzerland and Barbara Gärtner of the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene at Saarland University also participated in the study.