Competitive Balance in the Austrian, Czech, Hungarian and Ukrainian Soccer Leagues. Acta Universitatis Carolinae Kinanthropologica
Abstract
This study deals with measuring and evaluating the static competitive balance in four chosen national soccer/football leagues. These are (in alphabetical order) the premier leagues in the Austrian, Czech, Hungarian, and Ukrainian soccer/football divisions.
Static balance shows how teams in the league tables of each year differ from each another. It is determined by a calculation of determinant divergences in the percentages of winnings.
The results of this work provide graphic illustrations of the development of the competitive balance in the aforementioned contests over the latest forty-two years. They identify the development trend of this phenomenon.
Of the contests studied, it is the Czech premier league which used to show the highest static balance. However, nowadays, the Austrian and Hungarian leagues are more balanced in the short term.
On the contrary, it is the Ukrainian league which is the least balanced. There is an apparent long-term decline of competition balance within all of the analyzed competitions.
However, this decline varies a lot within the group.