Football stars are ‘super-clever’, study claims…putting old sterotype to bed
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FOOTIE stars are “super-clever”, according to a study — putting an end to stereotypes of stupidity. They have “exceptional cognitive abilities” and are better at mental planning, focus, memory and decision-making. This is honed by working out when to pass, dribble or shoot while quickly predicting what other players will do.
![[Declan Rice of Arsenal dribbling the ball past a Tottenham Hotspur player.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/declan-rice-arsenal-takes-radu-964044161.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Teams from Oxford University and Sweden’s Karolinska Institute compared 204 top-flight male and female players from Sweden and Brazil to 124 regular people. Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr Petrovic said: “Our study demonstrates that elite soccer players significantly outperformed others in memory, problem-solving and planning tasks.
“The ability to plan several steps ahead in a quickly changing environment may be one of the most crucial processes. “Being an elite player may not solely depend on athletic capacities and instead, it may be crucial to have a deep understanding of the game, process information quickly, and make decisions faster than others.”.
Dr Petrovic added: “They might have a superior ability to perform under pressure.”. Similar studies have found above-average intelligence in other athletes including volleyball, basketball, chess and ice hockey players, as well as in elite musicians.
Study co-author Professor Leonardo Bonetti, from Oxford University, said footballers might keep their unintelligent reputation because many are not book-smart. He added: “Even if they are clever, they are not educated – most stop at high school, possibly before.
