Relative age effect in Italian soccer: a cultural issue in talent management?

Ten years of research and dissemination of RAE did not change the selection policies adopted by coaches and/or scouts, who favor relatively older players during the selection processes. Therefore, RAE appears as the result of the Talent Identification and Development Structures, characterized by early selection and early specialization, and which consider performance as the pre-requisite for gaining access to the next developmental stages. Sport organizations should be aware of this issue and counteract accordingly, since it is important to mitigate the presence of RAE, as it causes inequality of opportunity.