A Small-Scale Observational Study into Sport and Spitting in the Era of
COVID-19 - Have Things Changed for the Better?
Abstract
COVID-19 virus is present in saliva and contact with saliva can be a
risk factor for spreading the virus between people. Consequently, there
has been fear regarding contact with saliva. Some people have
capitalised on this and resorted to using spitting as a weapon. In some
sports, spitting is common. In football, players often spit due to
excessive saliva in the mouth from exercise. Football spitting
incidences has included aggression between players and between fans.
This qualitative study observed national, regional and international
football matches including men & women world cups, between January
2022- March 2023. Additionally, we purposely sampled other sports on
celestial TV in the UK, through to March 2024, to see if there were
incidences of spitting. Analysis found, despite the knowledge COVID-19
is present in saliva, and the entire world went through a pandemic,
football and some other sports have not abandoned spitting. This is of
concern, since public health experts, including the WHO, have encouraged
people, especially children, not to publically spit, as it is unhygienic
and spreads disease. Children often see sports people as role models and
seeing them spit, is a setback for public health and hygiene. More needs
doing to address spitting in sporting events and could include education
in schools and sporting academies. At the same time sportspersons and
sporting authorities need to co-operate to find a way to eliminate, at
best, or to find alternative solutions to this habit.