Clements Ewan, Ehrmann Fabian, Clark Andrew, Jones Mark, Lu Donna, Duffield Rob
School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
Football Australia, Sydney, Australia.
Biol Sport. 2023 Jul;40(3):707-713. doi: 10.5114/biolsport.2023.119288. Epub 2022 Oct 6.
Elite football (soccer) involves club, continental and international fixtures, requiring players to undertake extensive travel [1]. For a national football federation, this includes the transport of players between club and camp/tournament commitments, which is often a point of contention between respective organisations [2]. Partly this contention results from the effects of travel, whereby jet lag and travel fatigue can negatively affect physical performance [3-5] and athlete wellbeing [6, 7]. Given the scarcity of data on elite players following travel, an initial step for any national football federation is to understand the volume and nature of travel undertaken by national team players. Such insight may better identify the schedule, timelines and needs of athletes' post travel. Better awareness of these travel needs can help maximise availability for training and minimise the impact of travel related stresses on performance or wellbeing. However, the regularity and volume of travel to national football team commitments has not previously been described. Further, travel demands are likely to vary significantly based on the location of the athlete and the national team camp. For countries outside of Europe, such as Australia, the travel demands and ensuing effects on player preparation can be substantial for both arrival into national team and on return to clubs [7]. Hence, detailed information regarding the type, frequency, and extent of travel for national team duties is important to aid in planning optimal travel schedules and interventions to assist players for international or club duty.
精英足球（英式足球）涉及俱乐部赛事、洲际赛事和国际赛事，这要求球员进行大量的旅行[1]。对于一个国家的足球联合会来说，这包括球员在俱乐部赛事和集训/比赛任务之间的往返运输，这往往是各相关组织之间的一个争议点[2]。这种争议部分源于旅行的影响，时差反应和旅行疲劳会对身体表现产生负面影响[3-5]，并影响运动员的健康[6, 7]。鉴于关于精英球员旅行后的数据稀缺，任何国家足球联合会的首要任务是了解国家队球员的旅行量和旅行性质。这样的洞察可能有助于更好地确定运动员旅行后的日程安排、时间线和需求。更好地了解这些旅行需求有助于最大限度地增加训练时间，并将与旅行相关的压力对表现或健康的影响降至最低。然而，此前尚未描述过国家队赛事旅行的规律性和旅行量。此外，旅行需求可能会因运动员的所在地和国家队集训地的不同而有很大差异。对于欧洲以外的国家，如澳大利亚，无论是抵达国家队还是返回俱乐部，旅行需求以及随之而来的对球员准备工作的影响都可能很大[7]。因此，有关国家队任务旅行的类型、频率和范围的详细信息对于制定最佳旅行计划以及采取干预措施以帮助球员参加国际赛事或俱乐部赛事非常重要。
