Competitive formats and the competitiveness of women’s elite futsal teams: should we follow men’s standards?

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for each season.

		Previous format		New format
Variables	All (n = 592)	2018/2019 (n = 103)	2019/2020* (n = 151)	2021/2022 (n = 193)	2022/2023 (n = 145)
Total of goals scored	5.6 ± 2.8	5.2 ± 2.6	5.2 ± 2.8	5.5 ± 2.7^a^,^b	6.5 ± 3.0^c
Highest goal difference	3.4 ± 2.3	3.2 ± 2.1	3.0 ± 1.8	3.3 ± 2.2^a^,^b	4.1 ± 2.7^c
Winning team’s yellow cards	0.9 ± 1.0	0.8 ± 1.0	0.9 ± 1.1	0.8 ± 0.9	1.0 ± 1.1
Losing team’s yellow cards	1.1 ± 1.2	1.2 ± 1.2	1.1 ± 1.2	1.0 ± 1.1	1.3 ± 1.3
Winning team’s red cards	0.0 ± 0.2	0.0 ± 0.1	0.0 ± 0.2	0.0 ± 0.1	0.1 ± 0.2
Losing team’s red cards	0.1 ± 0.3	0.1 ± 0.2	0.1 ± 0.4^a	0.1 ± 0.2^b	0.1 ± 0.3^b
5x4 situations for the winning team	0.1 ± 0.3	0.0 ± 0.2	0.1 ± 0.4^a	0.1 ± 0.2^b	0.1 ± 0.2^b
5x4 situations for the losing team	0.0 ± 0.2	0.0 ± 0.1	0.0 ± 0.2	0.0 ± 0.1	0.1 ± 0.2

Notes: *Covid-19 pandemic and first confinement. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation.

^a P ≤ 0.05, significant difference compared to 2018/2019.

^b P ≤ 0.05, significant difference compared to 2019/2020.

^c P ≤ 0.05, significant difference compared to 2021/2022.

Table 2. Changes in indices of football performance after each season.

Variables	2018/2019	2019/2020	2021/2022	2022/2023
Total of goals scored*	5.3 ± 0.3 (4.7–5.9)	5.2 ± 0.2 (4.7–5.5)	5.5 ± 0.2 (5.1–5.9)	6.4 ± 0.2 (6.0–6.9)
Highest goal difference*	3.2 ± 0.2 (2.8–3.7)	2.9 ± 0.2 (2.5–3.3)	3.3 ± 0.2 (2.9–3.6)	4.1 ± 0.2 (3.7–4.5)
Winning team’s yellow cards	0.7 ± 0.1 (0.5–0.9)	0.9 ± 0.8 (0.8–1.1)	0.8 ± 0.7 (6.9–10.0)	1.1 ± 0.8 (0.9–1.2)
Losing team’s yellow cards	1.0 ± 0.1 (0.8–1.3)	1.2 ± 0.1 (10.0–1.4)	1.0 ± 0.1 (0.8–1.1)	1.3 ± 0.1 (1.1–1.5)
Winning team’s red cards	0.0 ± 0.0 (0.0–0.0)	0.0 ± 0.0 (0.0–0.1)	0.0 ± 0.0 (0.0–0.0)	0.1 ± 0.1 (0.0–0.1)
Losing team’s red cards	0.0 ± 0.0 (0.0–0.1)	0.1 ± 0.1 (0.1–0.1)	0.1 ± 0.1 (0.0–0.1)	0.1 ± 0.1 (0.0–0.1)
5x4 situations for winning team *	0.0 ± 0.0 (0.0–0.1)	0.1 ± 0.1 (0.1–0.1)	0.1 ± 0.1 (0.0–0.1)	0.1 ± 0.1 (0.0–0.1)
5x4 situations for losing team	0.0 ± 0.0 (0.0–0.0)	0.0 ± 0.0 (0.0–0.1)	0.0 ± 0.0 (0.0–0.0)	0.1 ± 0.1 (0.0–0.1)

Note: *Season main effect (ANCOVA: p < 0.05 at post-season). Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation (minimum – maximum).

Figure 1. Data from the seasons 2021/2022 and 2022/2023.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [FS], upon reasonable request.