Mental fatigue (MF) is a psychobiological state caused by prolonged and demanding cognitive
activity, characterized by feelings of tiredness and lack of energy induced by periods of
demanding cognitive activity. MF negatively affects decision-making in sports, as these effects
have been associated with a reduction in the performance of executive functions, which are
conceptualized as a set of cognitive processes used to plan and carry out actions to achieve a
goal. In this context, it is known that the performance of executive functions has been strongly
associated with the decision-making of soccer referees, so understanding whether MF reduces
the cognitive performance of referees is relevant. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate
the effects of mental fatigue and simulated physical task on soccer referees, on response time
in a test that evaluates executive functions, and subjective perception of effort. Twelve
professional regional soccer referees participated in the study, and made three visits to the
laboratory, the first visit for evaluations and familiarization with the experimental protocols,
and signing of the Informed Consent Form (ICF). In the 2nd and 3rd visits, the participants
were exposed to two experimental conditions, mental fatigue or control, in a cross-over and
randomized way. Therefore, in the MF condition, referees performed the Stroop Test and in the
control condition, they watched an emotionally neutral video, and after these conditions, they
were required to perform executive function tests simultaneously with the simulated physical
task for soccer referees. The results revealed that there was no effect of mental fatigue on the
performance of executive functions (P = 0.395). However, higher perceptions of effort were
found in the mental fatigue condition (P = 0.018). In this sense, the present study shows that
although mental fatigue alters the subjective perception of effort, there was no impairment in
the executive functions performance of soccer referees.
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