To Örebro University

During the last few decades, technologies to monitor, test, and analyze athletes’ performance have been developed, such as global positioning systems (GPS), stadium camcorders, and heart rate monitors (Cullinane et al., 2024; Svensson & Svensson, 2021). Data from these sources is central to sports clubs’ management of athletes’ performances, and Robertson (2020) argues that the development of data gathering in sport has led to a new scenario for coaching staff, athletes, and performance analysts, where adaptive tools are essentially required to understand the needs of sports performance. At the forefront are economically strong clubs in the major leagues (Krizkova et al., 2021), but considerable growth is occurring as technologies become more affordable (Brink & Lemmink, 2018).

However, there is a growing body of literature that points to negative consequences. ‘Tech-data’ tends to govern too much, resulting in a distortion of lived experience and the dehumanization of both athletes and coaches (Gamble et al., 2020; Woods et al., 2021). Ultimately, what is at stake is who and what should make the decisions regarding athletes’ performance. Studies in this area have mainly been conducted in the Anglosphere on men’s sports, which limits the relevance of the conclusions drawn (Mulvenna, 2024; Nicholls et al., 2018). To provide more informed recommendations to sports organizations, research is needed on contexts with different conditions and resources, as well as on women’s sports (Barker-Ruchti et al., 2021; Martin et al., 2018).

This study responds to this call. Using Swedish men’s and women’s elite football as an example—a context that has recently begun to invest in emerging technologies (Barker-Ruchti et al., 2021)—the purpose of this study is to advance the understanding of the effects of using technology in the management of athletes’ performance. The specific aims are: 1) to map the landscape of performance analysis technologies in Swedish elite football in terms of a) what is used, b) why it is used, and c) how it is used; and 2) to illuminate how the use of technology affects the power relations between managers, coaches, analysts, and athletes.

To collect data, a questionnaire has been sent to all elite clubs in Swedish men’s and women’s football. Analytically, the study builds on the perspective of governmentality (Foucault & Faubion, 2002; Walters, 2012), which facilitates an understanding of how governing processes constitute subject positions and the power relations between them (Primus, 2024). This study will analyze what subject positions (i.e., managers, coaches, analysts, and players) and power relations the ‘governmentality of technology’ constitutes in the context of Swedish elite soccer.

Data analysis has just started and has so far only focused on the mapping (aim 1). Preliminary findings show that most Swedish elite soccer clubs use GPS, video, and heart rate monitors to track tactical and physiological aspects, respectively. It is mostly the physio or the analyst who collects, interprets, and communicates the data. However, the scope depends significantly on the resources and number of individuals in the coaching staff of the club.