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This study aimed to assess the effects of the lunar cycle on diurnal variation of biological, i.e, hormonal, biochemical, and hematological, profiles of diurnally active healthy men. Blood samples ...

The COVID-19 pandemic is a potential threat to professional sporting events when they eventually return to their usual calendar with spectators’ capacity of football stadiums usually exceeding 40,000 seats for important events. Hence, a strategy for safe return to sporting events is needed in the COVID-19 pandemic to pave the way towards a new normalcy. We reviewed the guidelines and policies implemented in organising the Amir Cup Football Final of Qatar, which hosted about 20,000 fans. The authors evaluated the publicly available information on the official websites of the various organizations involved and highlight the importance and usefulness of the Covid-19 Rapid Antigen Assay-Kit as a tool for screening sports spectators as well as the importance of a rigorous spectator pathway, including their accurate traceability thanks to a specific mobile phone application. Despite the surging of COVID-19 all over the world, a big football event with around 20,000 spectators in the same stadium has been hosted under strongly controlled preventative measures. These preventative measures show that it is possible to organize a major football match held outdoors, with the presence of thousands of supporters. This article is a call for action for the organisers of such events where the supporters’ health status is traceable to provide the scientific community with actual data of post-event infection rates. Therefore, it is suggested to consider using procedures like the ones described in the present article as a potential model in the process of organizing big sporting events with spectators in times of COVID-19.

The aim of this study was to explore the effect of the lunar cycle and time of day on short-term maximal performance, wellness and mood state. Twenty healthy active men performed a running anaerobic sprint test (RAST) at four sessions (full moon (FM) and new moon (NM) in the morning and in the evening). Before each testing session, participants completed a rating scale of mood states (POMS) and a psychometric rating scale of perceived wellness (Hooper's questionnaire). Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) was collected just after the RAST. A higher rating of sleep was observed in FM compared to NM upon the morning and the evening (FM morning vs. NM morning, p < .01; d = 1.38) and (FM evening vs. NM evening, p < .001; d = 2.62). POMS subscales data revealed no significant lunar cycle effect. Peak power (PP), average power (AP) and minimal power (MP) were greater in the evening following NM compared to FM (NM evening vs. FM evening, p< .01