The type and extent of travel for professional footballers undertaking national team duties for a national football federation

Abstract

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.

Full text

Biology of Sport, Vol. 40 No3, 2023 707
Ewan Clements et al. Travel demands for national team footballers
INTRODUCTION
In the absence of player data in the research literature, specic detail
related to national team travel demands is needed, as the inuence
of jet lag and travel fatigue will differ based on anumber of different
factors related to the journey. Time zone shifts of>3hare likely to
induce symptoms of jet lag, though athletic performance reductions
exist with greater time zone differences[8,9]. For example, reduc-
tions in intermittent and maximal sprint performance[4] and jump
performance[3,4] are observed after time zone shifts of>8h.
Similarly, long-haul travel of>22 hcan reduce sleep dura-
tion[5,6,10,11], which may explain elevated fatigue,[6,10] and
reduced intermittent sprint performance[6] and lower body power[5]
following arrival. In contrast, northbound travel of 10hwhere athletes
did not travel overnight had negligible effects on sleep and well-
ness[12]. The lack of effect from this ight may be attributed to the
northward direction of travel and thus lack of signicant time zone
change, while it is also possible that the timing of the ight relative
to the sleep period may be more critical than the duration of travel.
Thus, ights of roughly>10hwith time zone changes of>3hshould
be of concern given the likelihood of inducing jet lag symptoms or
The type and extent of travel for professional footballers
undertaking national team duties for anational football
federation
AUTHORS: Ewan Clements1,2, Fabian Ehrmann2, Andrew Clark2, Mark Jones2, Donna Lu1,2,
Rob Dufeld1,2
1 School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
2 Football Australia, Sydney, Australia
ABSTRACT: Elite football (soccer) involves club, continental and international xtures, 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 signicantly 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.
CITATION: Clements E, Ehrmann F, Clark A et al. The type and extent of travel for professional footballers
undertaking national team duties for anational football federation. Biol Sport. 2023;40(3):707–713.
Received: 2022-03-17; Reviewed: 2022-07-22; Re-submitted: 2022-07-27; Accepted: 2022-09-01; Published: 2022-10-06.
interrupting normal sleep cycles. Understanding the frequency and
extent of potentially problematic travel may assist national football
federations in planning training schedules and recovery interventions
following arrival.
Currently, only two studies report travel in national football teams,
with trips of 15hacross 4time zones[13] and 19hacross 11time
zones[7]. Separately, the travel schedules of Australian club sides
competing in Asian continental competitions report travel durations
of 10h[12] and 25.6h[11]. However, these reports do not de-
scribe the full range of travel demands likely to be experienced or al-
low planning for the diversity of demands for national team players.
Furthermore, it is possible that the travel demands for players con-
tracted to clubs outside of their home continent are greater than play-
ers within the national domestic competition. For anational football
federation based outside of Europe, such as Australia, alarge num-
ber of national team players are contracted to European and Asian
clubs. Agreater understanding of the travel demands of national
team players based on club location can inform tailored travel sched-
ules and interventions based on specic needs. Accordingly, the aim
Original Paper
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/biolsport.2023.119288
Key words:
Soccer
Jet lag
Travel fatigue
National team transition
Performance
Corresponding author:
Ewan Clements
School of Sport, Exercise and
Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health,
University of Technology Sydney,
Australia
E-mail: Ewan.J.Clements@
student.uts.edu.au
ORCID:
Ewan Clements
0000-0002-7371-1773
Donna Lu
0000-0001-6294-4953
Fabian Ehrmann
0000-0002-7371-1773
Rob Dufeld
0000-0002-5641-1314

708
Ewan Clements et al. Travel demands for national team footballers
reported in 3hgroupings to better report the range and frequency
of travel demands. For comparisons between club locations, all ights
were labelled as being either outbound (travelling to national team
duty, n=244) or return (returning to club from national team,
n=244). Transition trips between national team commitments or
to alocation other than the players club were excluded from loca-
tion-based comparisons (n=71).
Statistical Analysis
Descriptive data for mean, standard deviation, median, minimum,
and maximum values for all ight variables are reported. Shapiro-Wilk
normality tests demonstrated that the data was not normally distrib-
uted, and comparisons between club location groups for all travel
variables were assessed using non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis tests
from the “stats” package in R[14]with signicance set at p<0.05.
Where asignicant difference was observed between the groups,
pairwise comparisons were made using Dunn Tests[15] with Holm
corrected pvalues. All statistical tests were performed in the Rsta-
tistical software[14].
RESULTS
Amajority of trips involved time zone differences of≤3h (66%),
though 34% of ights involved differences of>3 hand 17% of
ights involved large time differences of≥8h(Figure1). The direc-
tion of time shifts included 50% westward travel, 43% eastward and
7% without any change in time zone. Travel times of≥10hoccurred
in 51% of trips, while 8% involved≥24htravel time. For ight
durations, 41% of trips involved≥10hight time, while 7% in-
volved≥20hight time. Most ights (64%) did not include overnight
travel, while 33% involved one night and 3% involved two nights.
The most common arrival time was in the evening between 18:00and
24:00 (39%), with early morning arrivals between 24:00and
09:00occurring for 23% of ights and 39% of ights arrived during
the day (09:00to 18:00). Players most often departed during the
day between 09:00and 18:00 (59%), while 21% of trips departed
in the evening (18:00–24:00) and 20% of trips departed in the
early morning (24:00–09:00).
Asignicant effect of player location on time zone change was
observed for both outbound (H=10.18, p=0.006; Table1) and
return (H=7.505, p=0.023; Table2) travel. Asian-based play-
ers crossed signicantly fewer time zones than Australian- (p=0.042)
and European-based players during outbound travel (p= 0.004),
and Australian-based (p=0.018) players during return travel.
Signicant differences for total travel time existed for both out-
bound (Table1) and return (Table2) travel (Outbound: H=6.159,
p=0.046; Return: H=16.754, p<0.001) and for total ight
time (Outbound: H=7.580, p=0.023Return: H=16.221,
p<0.001). Travel time was signicantly greater in Australian- com-
pared to European-based players for return travel (p=0.001) and
neared signicance for greater outbound travel duration (p=0.073).
Australian-based players had significantly greater return travel
of this study is to describe the nature and extent of travel performed
by Australian national team football players for international duties
over atwo-year period. In addition, this study compared the travel
demands for national duties between players based in Australian
(domestic), Asian and European club locations.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Participants
Participants were 58male senior Australian national football (soccer)
team representatives who had undertaken travel to train or compete
for the national team between March 2018and November 2019.
Through contractual agreements, participants provided consent to
Football Australia for the use of their anonymous data for research
purposes, and human ethics approval was provided by the institu-
tional Human Ethics Committee (ETH20 –5080).
Data Collection
Details of all travel schedules undertaken as apart of Australian
national team duties between March 2018and November 2019were
provided by Football Australia. This included the details of 569dif-
ferent trips (including multiple ights per trip). Of note, during this
period the Australian team competed in the 2018FIFA World Cup
Finals in Russia, the 2019AFC Asian Cup Finals in the United Arab
Emirates, and the Round 2qualifying process for the 2022World
Cup. Participant data was anonymised prior to being provided with
player names replaced by numerical codes.
All ights were provided based on booked travel schedules, which
were then independently veried to obtain the actual arrival and de-
parture times through an online ight database (Flightera.net). For
each listed trip, the following data was extracted, i) total ight time
ii) total travel time iii) time zone change iv) number of overnights per
trip v) departure time vi) arrival time vii) number of trips per player
and viii) generic direction i.e. East/West. In dening these variables,
arrival and departure time relate to the specic time the aircraft took
off and landed, as reported via the online ight database. Total ight
time was measured as the duration of all ights included in the jour-
ney from departure to arrival location. The total travel time was the
difference between departure time and arrival time, and included
both ight time and stop-over time, however, did not include any ad-
ditional travel requirements outside air-travel. The time zone change
was calculated based on the difference between the arrival and de-
parture time zone on the day in which the player arrived and coded
for direction as East, West, or No change. Atrip was considered to
have occurred overnight if the arrival time was later than midnight
of the day of departure. The geographical continent in which aplay-
er competed at club level at the time of travel was provided by Foot-
ball Australia and was used for comparisons between the travel de-
mands of players in Australia, Europe and Asia. All ight measures
for each player were collated in aMicrosoft Excel spreadsheet and
time-based measures were converted into adecimal of hours (i.e.
12h30min was equal to 12.5h). Time-based variables are

Biology of Sport, Vol. 40 No3, 2023 709
Ewan Clements et al. Travel demands for national team footballers
return travel, Australian-based players arrived signicantly earlier in
the day than European-based players (p=0.035). Signicant dif-
ferences existed in departure time for return (H=9.556, p=0.008),
but not outbound travel (H=2.050, p=0.359). Post-hoc analy-
sis showed signicantly earlier departure times for European com-
pared to Asian-based players (p=0.049) for return trips.
No signicant differences existed for the total number of trips per
player for outbound (H=3.967, p=0.138) or return (H=3.694,
p=0.158) travel. Signicant differences existed in the number of
trips in both eastward (Outbound: H=31.282, p<0.001Return:
H=20.497, p<0.001) and westward (Outbound: H=28.667,
p<0.001Return: H=31.468, p<0.001) directions. European-
based players completed signicantly more outbound eastward trips
than both Australian (p<0.001) and Asian-based players
(p=0.016) and signicantly less westward outbound trips than
duration (p=0.001) and neared signicance for greater outbound
travel duration (p=0.064). Total ight time for both outbound and
return groups was signicantly greater for Australian-based players
(European Outbound: p=0.030Return: p=0.003; (Asian Out-
bound: p=0.043Return: p=0.001).
The number of overnight trips per player was signicantly differ-
ent between groups for both outbound (H=6.066, p=0.048) and
return (H=11.850, p=0.003). With Bonferroni correction, no
pairwise comparisons reached signicance for outbound travel, while
Australian-based players travelled overnight more frequently than
both European- (p=0.002) and Asian- (p=0.046) based players
during return travel. Signicant differences existed in arrival time for
both outbound (H=6.597, p=0.037) and return travel (H=6.567,
p=0.038); however, with Bonferroni correction, no pairwise com-
parisons for outbound travel reached signicance (p>0.05). For
FIG. 1. Distribution of A) Total Travel Time B) Total Flight Time C) Time Difference D) Flights per Trip E) Arrival Time F) Departure
Time for national team footballers during a twoyear period (n=569) for Eastward (Dark), Westward (Light) time zone shifts, and
No time change (Grey). Percentages above bars represent the proportion of each bar relative to all trips.

710
Ewan Clements et al. Travel demands for national team footballers
TABLE 1. Travel demands of Australian professional footballers
based on club geographical location travelling to anational team
commitment over atwo-year period (n=244)
Measure Player
Location Mean (±SD) Median Min. Max.
Trips per
Player (N)
All Players 4.1 ± 2.4 3.5 1.0 10.0
Australia 3.2 ± 1.9 3.0 1.0 7.0
Europe 4.6 ± 2.6 4.5 1.0 10.0
Asia 3.2 ± 1.6 3.0 1.0 7.0
Flight
Duration
(Hours)
All Players 9.2 ± 6.4 6.7 0.8 23.0
Australia 12.1 ± 6.5*#12.8 0.9 20.8
Europe 8.9 ± 6.4 6.4 0.8 23.0
Asia 7.9 ± 5.4 7.5 1.2 17.8
Travel
Duration
(Hours)
All Players 11.1 ± 8.1 7.7 0.8 31.0
Australia 14.3 ± 8.0 14.1 0.9 27.6
Europe 10.7 ± 8.2 6.9 0.8 31.0
Asia 9.5 ± 6.4 10.0 1.2 21.5
Time
Difference
(Hours)
All Players 3.8 ± 3.3 2.0 0.0 10.0
Australia 4.3 ± 3.5# 5.0 0.0 10.0
Europe 3.9 ± 3.3#2.0 0.0 10.0
Asia 2.6 ± 3.0 1.0 0.0 9.0
Eastward
Trips per
Player (N)
All Players 2.8 ± 2.5 2.0 0.0 8.0
Australia 0.2 ± 0.4* 0.0 0.0 1.0
Europe 4.1 ± 2.3#4.0 0.0 8.0
Asia 1.3 ± 0.9 1.0 0.0 3.0
Westward
Trips per
Player (N)
All Players 1.0 ± 1.5 0.0 0.0 7.0
Australia 2.8 ± 1.7* 3.0 1.0 7.0
Europe 0.3 ± 0.7 0.0 0.0 2.0
Asia 1.2 ± 1.3 1.0 0.0 3.0
Overnight
Trips per
Player (N)
All Players 2.3 ± 1.8 2.0 0.0 7.0
Australia 1.5 ± 1.4 1.0 0.0 5.0
Europe 2.7 ± 2.0 2.5 0.0 7.0
Asia 1.3 ± 1.2 1.0 0.0 3.0
Arrival Time
(HH:mm)
All Players 13:54 ± 07:18 14:59 00:00 23:54
Australia 12:42 ± 05:42 11:48 00:18 22:18
Europe 14:24 ± 07:48 16:54 00:00 23:54
Asia 11:48 ± 05:36 11:12 00:54 21:18
Departure
Time
(HH:mm)
All Players 14:36 ± 05:36 14:42 00:12 24:00
Australia 13:06 ± 07:42 10:42 00:12 23:42
Europe 15:00 ± 04:42 15:00 02:06 23:00
Asia 13:48 ± 06:42 11:54 00:36 24:00
* Signicantly different to Europe (p<0.05); # Signicantly different
to Asia (p<0.05)
TABLE 2. Travel demands of Australian professional footballers
based on club geographical location returning to club teams
following anational team commitment over a two-year period
(n=244)
Measure Player
Location Mean (±SD) Median Min. Max.
Trips per
Player (N)
All Players 4.1 ± 2.4 4.0 1.0 10.0
Australia 3.3 ± 1.9 4.0 1.0 8.0
Europe 4.7 ± 2.7 4.0 1.0 10.0
Asia 3.1 ± 1.4 3.0 1.0 6.0
Flight
Duration
(Hours)
All Players 9.6 ± 5.8 8.5 0.6 21.8
Australia 12.2 ± 5.3*#12.9 1.2 19.3
Europe 9.3 ± 5.8 7.7 0.6 21.8
Asia 7.2 ± 5.3 4.6 0.9 18.3
Travel
Duration
(Hours)
All Players 12.2 ± 7.3 11.1 0.6 30.7
Australia 15.9 ± 7.0*#16.4 1.2 29.2
Europe 11.7 ± 7.1 10.3 0.6 30.7
Asia 9.3 ± 7.0 8.0 0.9 23.9
Time
Difference
(Hours)
All Players 3.7 ± 3.3 2.0 0.0 11.0
Australia 4.8 ± 3.5#6.5 0.0 10.0
Europe 3.6 ± 3.3 2.0 0.0 11.0
Asia 2.8 ± 3.2 1.0 0.0 9.0
Eastward
Trips per
Player (N)
All Players 1.2 ± 1.4 1.0 0.0 6.0
Australia 2.8 ± 1.6* 3.0 1.0 6.0
Europe 0.6 ± 0.9 0.0 0.0 3.0
Asia 1.3 ± 0.9 1.0 0.0 3.0
Westward
Trips per
Player (N)
All Players 2.5 ± 2.4 1.5 0.0 8.0
Australia 0.2 ± 0.4* 0.0 0.0 1.0
Europe 3.8 ± 2.2#4.0 0.0 8.0
Asia 0.9 ± 0.6 1.0 0.0 2.0
Overnight
Trips per
Player (N)
All Players 1.3 ± 1.4 1.0 0.0 5.0
Australia 2.8 ± 1.8*#3.0 0.0 5.0
Europe 0.9 ± 1.0 1.0 0.0 3.0
Asia 1.0 ± 1.2 1.0 0.0 3.0
Arrival Time
(HH:mm)
All Players 15:00 ± 05.48 17:00 0.1 23.9
Australia 13:06 ± 06.24* 18:00 04:54 22:36
Europe 15:36 ± 05.30 11:00 01:00 23:54
Asia 14:48 ± 05:54 17:12 00:06 23:24
Departure
Time
(HH:mm)
All Players 11:48 ± 06:00 10:54 00:30 23:42
Australia 13:12 ± 06:00 10:06 01:36 23:18
Europe 11:06 ± 06:00#14:36 00:30 23:12
Asia 13:48 ± 05:00 13:48 03:24 23:42
* Signicantly different to Europe (p<0.05). # Signicantly
different to Asia (p<0.05)

Biology of Sport, Vol. 40 No3, 2023 711
Ewan Clements et al. Travel demands for national team footballers
Australian- (p<0.001) and Asian-based (p=0.074) players. For
return trips, European-based players completed signicantly more
westward trips than both Australian (p<0.001) and Asian-based
(p=0.009) players, and signicantly fewer eastward trips than Aus-
tralian-based players (p<0.001).
DISCUSSION
This study describes the type and extent of travel demands for Aus-
tralian national team duties and compares travel demands based on
aplayer’s club location. Alarge number of trips by national team
players are unlikely to affect performance and wellbeing
(66%≤3htime difference, 64% not overnight, 49%<10htrav-
el time). Despite this, anumber of ights exceed 3hof time difference
(34%), occur overnight (36%) or are prolonged in duration
(51%,>10h) and therefore potentially pose concerns for perfor-
mance or recovery. Being aware of the frequency of extensive travel
demands may in turn allow national team staff to better prepare for
the arrival of players and guide preventative measures before and
after travel. Furthermore, Australian-based players generally had
greater travel demands than Asian or European-based players. There-
fore, travel strategies should consider location-specic demands of
players; with those travelling into the national team from Europe or
returning to Australian-based clubs needing greater attention for cir-
cadian adaption and promotion of sleep assistance strategies.
This study shows anumber of trips resulting in time zone differ-
ences of>3h(34%), which have been previously observed to in-
duce jet lag symptoms in athletes[13,16–18], though symptoms
are expected to be more detrimental with greater time zone differ-
ences[19–21]. Although no performance measures were recorded
in this study, 17% of trips, exceeded 8hof time zone difference,
with such time zone changes previously being shown to cause re-
ductions in intermittent and maximal sprint as well as jump perfor-
mance[3,4]. This study highlights that many national team trips
for this federation have the potential to induce detrimental jet lag
symptoms and thus practitioners should consider interventions that
can hasten the rate at which an athlete adapts to time zone chang-
es. Further, 36% of trips required overnight air travel, with this po-
tentially putting athletes at risk of impaired sleep[6,10,11]. Im-
pairments in sleep may then have further implications for wellbeing
and performance[5,6,10,22], highlighting the need for appropri-
ate strategies to monitor and promote sleep during travel[10,11,13].
Related to the overnight nature of travel, 33% of ights arrived in
the rst half of the day (24:00–12:00), and thus are likely to involve
longer durations between full sleep periods which may have addi-
tional consequences for sleep and adaptation[23]. For such trips,
daytime naps may be useful where athletes were unable to obtain
sufcient sleep during travel[24]. Currently, no studies have report-
ed jet lag, travel fatigue or other perceptual responses of national
team footballers across varying travel demands. Although no specif-
ic jet lag or travel fatigue measures were available, based on the ob-
servations of previous research and the extent of travel observed in
this study, it is likely that aconsiderable volume of national team
travel may induce circadian misalignment, jet lag or sleep disrup-
tion. Hence, given the short-turnaround between club and national
team xtures, strategies to alleviate these consequences are recom-
mended i.e. sleep hygiene, naps and awareness of travel schedules.
Such strategies may be important in maximising the availability of
players to train and prepare for both national team and club
competition[24].
Understanding locational differences in travel demands of play-
ers travelling into national team commitments will enable staff to
better cater to player-specic needs. Despite similarities in time zone
difference for European- and Australian-based players, travelling from
Europe required more eastward trips. Although not measured here,
eastward trips are reported to induce more prolonged symptoms of
jet lag[4,20,25] and may warrant earlier arrivals for European
players or greater focus on interventions to hasten circadian adap-
tation. Asian-based players experienced signicantly smaller time
zone changes and thus the risk of jet lag when travelling into camp
is less than that for European- or Australian-based players. Interest-
ingly, players who were based at clubs in Australia had the greatest
travel durations. Such anding likely reects the unique situation of
the Australian national team in which the country is geographically
based in Oceania but competes under the Asian Confederation and
thus often compete in Asia. While time zone changes may still be
aconcern for Australian-based players, the greater concern may re-
sult from travel fatigue due to longer travel durations and potential
implications of long-duration ights[9,19,21]. However, as long-
haul daytime travel≤10hhas not been observed to affect perfor-
mance and wellbeing[12], similar travel fatigue symptoms theoret-
ically may persist in all groups given overnight travel requirements
were similar[5,6,10]. The similarities in overnight travel amongst
all players suggests interventions to reduce travel induced sleep loss
should be of focus for national team practitioners for player arrival
into camp. Accordingly, aneed for attention on circadian re-entrain-
ment exists for European-based players, while sleep-promoting in-
terventions during and after travel are required for all players arriv-
ing for national team duties.
Given the prevalence of xture congestion in elite football[1], re-
turning players to clubs from national teams requires effective com-
munication between national and club team staff to enhance player
recovery and selection availability. During return travel, Australian-
based players had the worst travel schedules, with more eastward
trips, longer travel durations and more trips requiring overnight trav-
el. These travel schedules may place the athletes at greater likelihood
of jet lag due to the longer lasting effects following eastward trav-
el[4,26], while longer travel durations and overnight ights have
previously been observed to reduce sleep and increase fatigue[5,11].
Therefore, additional focus on hastening time zone adaptations in
players returning to Australian clubs is suggested, while attempts to
reduce sleep decits from overnight travel are also recommended.
Earlier arrivals have previously been observed to contribute to

712
Ewan Clements et al. Travel demands for national team footballers
greater symptoms of jet lag due to longer durations between full sleep
periods[23]; and should also be considered in Australian-based play-
ers who on average arrived signicantly earlier than European-based
players. While greater attention is required for Australian-based play-
ers, the average time zone differences of 3.5 ± 3.2hmay still be
enough to induce jet lag in European-based players[8,9,19]. Giv-
en these players largely travelled westward on return to clubs, it is
speculative whether these symptoms may potentially alleviate quick-
er than eastward travelling players[4,20,26].
Despite the novelty of these results, several limitations should be
considered when interpreting these ndings. Importantly, as this
study did not obtain any measures of wellness, performance or sleep
from players, any suggested effects of travel are based on previous
research. Additionally, the travel demands represent acase study of
one national team undertaking tournaments at that point of the time.
Furthermore, while abroad date range was used there is likely abias
in the ndings based on the location of tournaments. Different trav-
el demands are therefore likely to be observed between other nation-
al teams and time frames. Lastly, while amajority of international
travel is performed via aircraft, this study does not consider addition-
al modes of transport i.e. road or railway travel and its potential ef-
fects on players, nor does it account for travel to and from the
airport[8].
CONCLUSIONS
Overall, this study provides adetailed case-study of the type and extent
of travel involved in anational football team, while demonstrating that
these demands are likely to differ based on aplayer’s club location.
Travel for national team duties are diverse, and there remains many
schedules that require planning to maximise performance and wellbe-
ing. Asingle squad-wise approach to travel scheduling may not be
appropriate as the nature of travel differs signicantly between player’s
club locations. For the Australian national team, travel into camp is
likely most demanding for European-based players, while Australian-
based players may be more at risk of negative travel consequences
following return travel. As such, it is important to consider the spe-
cic demands of players on an individual or at least regional basis.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the players, coaches and staff of the
Sports Science Sports Medicine Department of Football Australia for
their support and feedback in the development of this project. No
nancial assistance was provided for this project.
Disclosure of Interest
All authors of this study were current employees of Football Austra-
lia; however, no additional funding was provided for the purpose of
this study.
Funding Details
This research did not receive any specic grant from funding agencies
in the public, commercial, or not-for-prot sectors.
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