Act of Shooting

The change is intended to ensure a player has genuinely started a shooting movement, rather than creating a new shooting action after contact has been anticipated or received.

Technical Fouls

Technical fouls will now be divided into two categories. Please keep in mind, for both technical foul categories, the penalty will be:

• The game stops when the technical foul is called;
• One free throw is awarded; and
• The game resumes from where it was stopped.

Category 1 Technical Fouls relate to unsportsmanlike behaviour or misconduct. These count as a personal foul, count towards game disqualification and count towards a sin bin penalty.

FDBA Technical Foul Behaviour Policy

Category 1 Technical Fouls for:

• Fake being fouled, or flopping; and
• Obstructing an opponent’s vision

will be administered as technical fouls during the game, but will not count towards the FDBA Technical Foul Behaviour Policy.

All other Category 1 Technical Fouls will count towards the application of the behaviour policy.

Category 2 Technical Fouls are administrative infractions, such as delaying the game, hanging on the rim without cause or goaltending the final free throw. These count as a personal foul but do not count towards game disqualification or a sin bin penalty.

Disruptive Fouls

The new Disruptive Foul applies to illegal contact that disrupts the flow of the game or prevents a scoring opportunity, but does not rise to the level of a Flagrant Foul.

This may include fouling to stop a fast break, deliberately stopping the game or shot clock at the end of a period, or making contact from behind or the side against a player progressing towards the basket with no defender between them and the basket.

A Disruptive Foul counts as a personal foul but does not count towards game disqualification. The penalty is two free throws to the player who was fouled, followed by possession in the frontcourt.

Flagrant Fouls

A Flagrant Foul is the updated term for types of illegal contact that were previously termed as unsportsmanlike fouls. It includes illegal contact that violates the spirit of sportsmanship and fair play and, due to its nature or severity, exceeds the limits of a normal personal foul or Disruptive Foul.

This includes contact that is not a legitimate basketball play, reckless or dangerous actions and excessive hard contact.

Flagrant Fouls count as personal fouls and towards game disqualification. The penalty is two free throws to the player who was fouled, followed by possession in the frontcourt.

Game Disqualification

A player will be disqualified from the remainder of the game after receiving:

• Two Flagrant Fouls;
• Two Category 1 Technical Fouls; or
• One Flagrant Foul and one Category 1 Technical Foul.

A head coach may also be disqualified after receiving two Category 1 Technical Fouls for their own conduct, or following three Category 1 Technical Fouls arising from bench conduct.

Under the new game disqualification thresholds, the changes ensure that players will not be disqualified solely for accumulating multiple Disruptive Fouls and/or Category 2 Technical Fouls.

You may notice some new or different signals being used by our referees as part of these rule changes. Please refer to the graphic below for an overview of the updated referee signals.