THE RELATIVE AGE EFFECT AMONG PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL PLAYERS IN SERBIA

The aim of this research was to examine the presence of Relative Age Effect (RAE) among professional football players in Serbia. The presence of RAE is reflected through the unequal distribution that favors players born closer to the selection cutoff date. The total sample included 913 professional football players in Serbia during the 2022/2023 season. A chi-square test (χ2) was used to determine differences in the distribution of players birthdays by quarters and post-hoc z-test with Bonferroni correction were applied for pairwise comparison between quarters. The results for the total sample indicate statistically significant differences in player representation (χ2 = 16.17, p = .001, ES = .078). The presence of the RAE was confirmed in the Serbian First League (χ2 = 15.94, p = .001, ES = .069), but not in the Super League (χ2 = 5.49, p = .139, ES = .063). No significant differences were found in the distribution of players from teams competing in the play OFF (χ2 = 5.53, p = .137, ES = .061) or play OUT (χ2 = 2.15, p = .543, ES = .034). Nevertheless, descriptive statistics show the highest representation of player born in Q1 in both groups. The results of this study confirm the presence of RAE among professional football players in Serbia; however RAE does not appear to be a factor that significantly affects team standings at the senior competition level. To mitigate the adverse effects of this phenomenon, it is necessary to modify talent identification strategies in Serbia.