The Association of Emotional Intelligence with Sport Injuries and Receiving Penalty Cards Among Iranian Professional Soccer Players

Abstract

Background: High emotional intelligence (EI) seems to be preventive for unconventional sports behavior within competitions leading prevention of sport injuries and also minimization of giving penalty cards. Objectives: The present study aimed to examine this relationship among Iranian Premier League footballers. Methods: This study was performed on Iranian professional soccer players participating in Premier League in 2014 - 2015 season. To assess emotional intelligence among athletes, the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence test (SSEIT) was employed. Sport-related injuries were recorded by the physician of each team. Also, the reports of the number of yellow and red cards for each athlete as well as for all teams in two phases (middle and end of each season) was recorded by the Football League Organization were reviewed and recorded. The chi-square test and t-test were used for comparing the variables. The Pearson’s correlation test and the multivariable regression model were also used for discovering association and relationship, respectively. P values of 0.05 or less were considered statistically significant. Results: Among different subscales of EI, only regulation of emotions was significantly different between injured and non-injured athletes (P = 0.04). Lower ability to regulate emotions was associated with higher risk for sport injuries (OR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.79 - 0.98, P = 0.02). None of the subscales of EI was related to receiving yellow card, but utilizing emotions was adversely related to receiving red card. The association between utilizing emotions and receiving red card changed to insignificant after using the multivariable regression modeling. Conclusions: By regulating emotions, sport-related injuries can be preventable in soccer players. However, EI may not be helpful in reducing sport fines.