Football in the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic – considerations regarding competition organization

Abstract. In this paper, we aim to complement the experience acquired so far in pandemic times by addressing the current problem of football from certain specific directions, in the conditions of COVID-19 infection. This study used some models (SIR, SEIR and SIRD) that tried to determine the evolution of the pandemic on the basis of a few defining aspects. In a championship involving 20 teams and 38 stages, an officially registered squad for each team can consist of 34 players (30 field players and 4 goalkeepers), and competition organization in the form of a tournament can include: 14 days competition period + 7 days break => 4 games scheduled every 3 or 4 days; 10 x 14-day modules with 9 x 7-day recovery modules will be required for the competition. The current context is completely new and, in order to train and play during the pandemic, we need to consider the following aspects: the competition system of national football leagues should take the form of the model proposed by us, promoting young players from the academy; the competitions of the national team should take place in the form of tournaments; the referees’ activity should be reorganized in relation to the competition system.