Spanish sports daily AS is reporting the findings of researchers who claim tall players commit more fouls against their vertically challenged opponents. Two researchers from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasumus University, Drs. Niels van Quaquebeke and Steffen Giessner, decided to use their analysis - often used in applications for business - and apply it to football, to gauge how people view foul play.

The results suggest, that statistically referees and fans perceive taller players as the culprits of fouls and their shorter opponents as victims of those fouls.

In an analysis of over 100,000 fouls over a span of seven seasons, incorporating the Champions League (32,142 fouls), Bundesliga (85,262 fouls), and the last three World Cups (6,440 fouls) as data for their experiments, taller players are penalised for fouls against shorter players more often than not, including when no foul has been committed.