Professional Foul
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In various
sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...
s, a professional foul is a deliberate act of foul play intended to bring about an advantage for the perpetrator's team. Professional fouls are usually committed to prevent an opponent from scoring. Various sports contain provisions in their rules to dissuade such acts. These either try to negate the advantage gained from such an act or apply additional punishments beyond those for an equivalent foul in normal circumstances.


Association football

In
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, a professional foul involves a defender committing a foul in order to prevent the opponents from scoring, or to deny an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. The resulting
free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...
or
penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...
may offer the attacking team a lower chance of
scoring Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian m ...
than the original playing position, and the defending player therefore has an incentive to tactically commit the foul. Offending players are cautioned or sent off depending on the circumstances of the foul, with the punishment dependant upon both the nature of the foul and the opportunity denied to the opposition by it. Under Law 12, what constitutes an obvious goalscoring opportunity is left to the discretion of the referee; however, several factors are given to help referees decide. These are the distance between the offence and the goal, the likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball, the direction of the play, and the location and number of defenders.


History

The concept gained attention in association football after an incident in the 1980 FA Cup Final when Willie Young of Arsenal committed a deliberate foul on
Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which ...
of
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
, when Allen had a clear run at goal. As the Laws of the Game stood, the referee (
George Courtney George Courtney MBE (born 4 June 1941) is an English former football referee based in Spennymoor, County Durham. He is said to be a freemason. His vocational career was spent as a primary school headteacher. Ascent through English refereein ...
) could only caution Young and award West Ham a free kick, which he did. This provoked a national debate on deliberate fouls that denied opponents the chance to score a goal. At the time, the English game was suffering a downturn in attendances and the chairmen of the Football League clubs decided to consider ways in which the game could be made more exciting. A subcommittee was appointed to produce some suggestions, chaired by
Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including player, trade union leader, coach, manager, director ...
and including Matt Busby and
Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (born 11 October 1937) is an English former footballer who played either as a midfielder or a forward. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World ...
. They recommended in 1982 that any offence that denies the attacking player an obvious scoring opportunity should be deemed "serious foul play" by the referee and would therefore receive a
red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...
, in order to deter offenders. This was submitted to the
International Football Association Board The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is the body that determines the Laws of the Game of association football. IFAB was founded in 1886 to agree standardised Laws for international competition, and has since acted as the "guardia ...
(IFAB) for consideration, but all the suggestions were initially defeated. The rule was finally fixed into the Laws of the Game by IFAB in 1990 and referees were instructed by FIFA for the 1990 World Cup to send players off for a professional foul. In 1991 the IFAB made an addition which deemed that a player who committed a handling offence that denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity should be sent off for serious foul play. In 2016 the Laws of the Game were amended so that a professional foul resulting in a penalty kick would only result in a yellow card, providing that the player was making a genuine attempt for the ball. This amendment was made to reduce the "double jeopardy" of a professional foul resulting in both a red card and a penalty kick.


American football

In American football, the rules regarding unfair acts empower officials to enforce additional penalties so as to counteract the potential benefit a team may gain from a major or repeated foul. In order to get a more favourable field position for a punt or to run the clock down while leading a game, it can happen that a team takes a
delay of game Delay of game is an action in a sports game in which a player or team deliberately stalls the game, usually with the intention of using the delay to its advantage. In some sports, the delay of game is considered an infraction if it is longer than ...
penalty of five yards by running down the
play clock A play clock, also called a delay-of-game timer, is a countdown clock intended to speed up the pace of the game in gridiron football. The offensive team must put the ball in play by either snapping the ball during a scrimmage down or kicking the ...
on purpose. When looking for a lower field position for a punt, it is to prevent a
touchback In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to tra ...
by having the punt go into the end zone.


Basketball

In basketball, teams may deliberately commit personal fouls for strategic reasons.Dudley, Carl A. (26 January 2006).
The Most Important Form of Official Communication: The Pre-Game Conference
", International Association of Approved Basketball Officials, Board #134 Information Release
"In a close match, with seconds ticking down and a team being down by one or two points, a coaching strategy could be to foul and stop the clock and make the other team earn their victory by way of the free throw."
As the resulting
free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...
s must be taken by the fouled player, teams may tactically choose to foul a player with a poor free-throw percentage. This became known as "
Hack-a-Shaq Hack-a-Shaq is a basketball defensive strategy used in the National Basketball Association (NBA) that involves committing intentional fouls (originally a clock management strategy) for the purpose of lowering opponents' scoring. The strategy was o ...
" after
Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...
who was a target of such tactics. Trailing teams often also commit intentional fouls late in games in order to stop the clock and get the ball back, rather than allow the opponent to run out the clock. In addition, there are specific rules governing obvious goal scoring opportunities called clear path fouls.


Rugby league

The professional foul in rugby league embodies a similar concept to other sports, a deliberate breach of the rules in order to prevent a scoring opportunity. The penalty for this offence is 10 minutes in the
sin bin The penalty box or sin bin (sometimes called the bad box, or simply bin or box) is the area in ice hockey, rugby union, rugby league, roller derby and some other sports where a player sits to serve the time of a given penalty, for an offence n ...
. The majority of professional fouls are either holding down the tackled player after a break has been made in order to allow his teammates to reform in defence, interfering in the play when making little or no attempt to return to an onside position, or tackling or impeding the progress of a player not in possession when a try may possibly be scored. The latter situation may result in a penalty try.


Rugby union

Law 10.2a of the Laws of Rugby deals with intentional infringements. Referees are instructed to award a
penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...
in such instances and admonish, caution (resulting in a temporary suspension from the game), or send off the offender. A penalty try can be awarded if the referee believes the offence probably prevented a try being scored.


References

{{reflist, 30em Laws of association football Association football terminology Basketball terminology Rugby league terminology Rugby union terminology