Open AccessCOVID-19 Diffusion Before Awareness: The Role of Football Match Attendance in Italy
Author(s) -
Vincenzo Alfano
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of sports economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1552-7794
pISSN - 1527-0025
DOI - 10.1177/15270025211067786
Subject(s) - football , amateur , covid-19 , attendance , pandemic , geography , football players , demographic economics , advertising , political science , business , economics , medicine , outbreak , law , disease , pathology , virology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
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.