UEFA Research Grants awarded

The jury for the UEFA Research Grant Programme – which backs the work of doctoral and post-doctoral researchers studying European football – has met to select research grant proposals for the 2012/13 season, as well as hear the final presentations of researchers who received grants for 2011/12.

Following a comprehensive review of the 63 applications received – compared with 40 proposals in 2010 and 48 in 2011 - the jury selected five proposals:

- Fan relationship and national football association in Europe: Better understanding for better management, Guillaume Bodet, University of Loughborough (UK)
- The validation and application of an integrated metabolic cost paradigm using high frequency GPS technology in soccer to assess match play training load,Doran Dominic, Liverpool John Moores University (UK)
- Economic effects of UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations,Markus Lang, University of Zurich (Switzerland)
- Influence on injurability and injury recovery time of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved connective tissue repair,Ricard Pruna, University of Barcelona (Spain)
- Race/ethnicity, gender and audience receptions of televised football in the Netherlands and the UK,Jacco von Sterkenburg, University of Utrecht (the Netherlands)

The jury decided that each of the selected proposals should be awarded a research grant of €17,000. Awarded researchers will now dedicate their nine next months to research and prepare their report to UEFA.

The meeting of the jury also gave an opportunity for last year's chosen researchers to present the results of their work:

- Effect of extreme environmental conditions on decision-making ability of active referees and goal-line officials,John Brewer, University of Bedfordshire (UK);
- Protect her knees: Exploring the role of football-specific fatigue on dynamic knee stability in female youth football players,Mark De Ste Croix, University of Gloucestershire (UK)
- Football supporter culture in Serbia: Considering an anti-violent future,John Hughson, University of Central Lancashire (UK)
- Wie viel Wettbewerb braucht der Fussball? Eine Untersuchung zur Bedeutung der Wettbewerbsintensität aus Sicht der Zuschauer, Tim Pawlowski, German Sport University Cologne (Germany)
- Une première élite du football européen (1904-1956), ou les prémices d’un champ footballistique européen,Grégory Quin, University of Lausanne (Switzerland)
- How can former successful European football teams capitalise on the UEFA Europa League in order to (re-)establish their brands?,André Richelieu, Laval University (Canada)

The UEFA Research Grant Programme is welcome because the research in question helps to produce interesting new information on European football – thereby also helping the European football family fulfill its mission and making its decision-making more effective and informed.

The UEFA Research Grant jury comprises a chairman, four representatives of the European football family and four academics known internationally for their work linked to European football/sport. Proposals may be made in the following areas: economics, history, law, management, political science, sociology and medical sciences.