In a tug of war, the team that exerts a larger tangential force on the ground wins, winning team not moving. Consider the period in which a team is dragging the opposite team by applying a larger tangential force on the ground. Which of the following work is negative?
Displacement of losing team is toward wining team, because wining team pulls losing team.
Friction force by ground on losing team is opposite to their displacement.
Hence, work done by ground on loosing team is negative.