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. 2022 Jun;23(5):503-523.
doi: 10.1177/15270025211067786.

COVID-19 Diffusion Before Awareness: The Role of Football Match Attendance in Italy

Vincenzo Alfano  1   2
Affiliations

COVID-19 Diffusion Before Awareness: The Role of Football Match Attendance in Italy

Vincenzo Alfano. J Sports Econom. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence suggests that football matches may have played a role in the spread of COVID-19 all over Europe. Nevertheless, from a scientific point of view, the impact of football matches on the spread of COVID-19 remains unclear. In this paper we study, via a quantitative analysis, the case of Italy, a country badly affected by COVID, and one where attending football matches is very popular. We consider the impact of matches played in January and February 2020 on the dynamic of the pandemic in March and April the same year. Our results, which consider all levels of Italian professional football, and the highest level of amateur football, show that matches played in January and February had an impact on the evolution of the pandemic in March and April. These results suggest that great care must be taken before considering re-opening stadia.

Keywords: COVID-19; H12; I18; Z28; football matches; mass events; outdoor gatherings.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Total (left handed scale) and average (right handed scale) attendance from Serie A 2008/2009 to 2019/2020 seasons.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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