Too many men is a penalty that may be called in various team sports when the team has more players on the field or other playing area than are allowed by the rules. Penalties vary from one sport to the next.
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 ...
, if a team is found to have more than eleven players on the field, the referee must determine which is the extra player, and the player so determined is given a
yellow card
Yellow card may refer to:
* Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas
* Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band
* Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...
. In
indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...
, if a team is found to have more than six players on the field, the extra player is given a blue card and is sent to the
penalty box
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 not ...
for two minutes.
Australian rules football
In
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
, the primary means for controlling
interchanges
Interchange may refer to:
Transport
* Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways
* Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies
* Interchange station, a rai ...
in most leagues is the head count. At the request of a team captain, the umpire will instruct all players from both teams line to line-up in the centre of the ground, and the umpire will then count the players. If either team is found to have more than eighteen players on the field, anything the team had scored to that point of the current quarter of play is cancelled, and a free kick and 50 meter penalty are awarded.
Since 2008, in the top level
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
, the interchange steward monitors player interchanges, and informs the emergency umpire directly if a team has more than eighteen men on the ground due to an interchange error. When an infringement is identified in this manner, a free kick and 50-metre penalty are awarded to the opposing team at the centre of the ground, but the team's score is not cancelled because infringements are usually noticed quickly, minimizing the potential influence on the game.
Baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
limits teams to nine players (one pitcher, one catcher, and seven other fielders) on the defense at any time. If the defense is found to have more than nine players on the field, the umpire must determine which is the additional player(s), and the player(s) so determined shall be ejected.
Basketball
Professional and collegiate
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
(both men's and women's) limit teams to five players on the court at any one time. A team with more than five in play at once is assessed a
technical foul
In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...
for ''Too Many Players on the Court''. In March 2009, the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
rules were changed to allow for the nullification of goals scored with too many players on the court. Under no circumstance can any player or coach be ejected on a technical foul caused by too many players.
Gridiron football
In
, if a team has more than the allowed number of players on the field during a play (eleven in NFL, twelve in CFL), the offending team is penalized five (American) or ten (Canadian) yards for ''too many men on the field'' (also called ''twelve/thirteen men on the field''). This is usually the result of an improper substitution. In the
2009 Grey Cup game in the
CFL
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
a too-many-men call cost the
Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division.
The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...
the victory allowing the
Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...
to capitalize on their second chance to make the game winning field goal.
A related, but more serious, penalty of ''illegal participation'' occurs if the extra man or men enter the field during the play. Illegal participation is a 15-yard penalty in
high school football
High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...
. If the illegal participant prevents a score, it is an
unfair act In American football, an unfair act is a foul that can be called when a player or team commits a flagrant and obviously illegal act that has a major impact on the game, and from which, if additional penalties were not enforced, the offending team w ...
and the score is awarded.
Ice hockey
''Too many men on the ice'' is a
bench penalty in
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
called when a team has more than the legal number of players (six, including the
goalie, if not already short handed) on the ice at one time. This term is normally used even in
women's ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...
, although occasionally the word ''men'' may be replaced by ''players''. The penalty for the infraction is two minutes in the
penalty box
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 not ...
served by the player chosen by the offending coach from one of his players on the ice at the time of the infraction.
This penalty is most commonly seen during a "line change", when teams are switching players off and replacements are coming on. If either the player entering, or the player exiting, plays the puck while the other is on the ice, the penalty is called. If the incoming or outgoing player is accidentally struck by the puck, it is not an infraction. In the NHL, substitution is allowed when the outgoing player is within of their bench.
Lacrosse
Similar to hockey, too many men is a minor penalty in
lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
, and a player from the offending team is sent to the penalty box.
References
{{Reflist
Ice hockey penalties
Ice hockey terminology
Terminology used in multiple sports
fr:Surnombre