What changed in the FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2026?

The FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2026 take effect worldwide on 1 October 2026. The main changes are:

• Article 15 (player in the act of shooting): clarifies what counts as continuous movement and where the shooter must be.
• Article 36 (technical foul): technical fouls are split into category 1, which counts towards game disqualification, and category 2, which does not.
• Articles 37 and 38: the unsportsmanlike foul is replaced by two new fouls. Flagrant fouls count towards disqualification; disruptive fouls do not.
• Appendix F (Instant Replay System and head coach's challenge): the IRS can review a goaltending or basket interference violation that follows a foul at any point in the game, and can check whether the thrower-in still held the ball when a defensive foul occurred during a throw-in in the last 2 minutes of the fourth quarter and each overtime.

FIBA publishes the full rules, a separate Official Basketball Rules Interpretations document and a rule changes summary. The final text of the Official Basketball Rules prevails over the summary.

Sources: https://about.fiba.basketball/en/news/fiba-official-basketball-rules-2026-to-take-effect-october-1 and https://assets.fiba.basketball/image/upload/documents-corporate-fiba-official-rules-2026-v1-1.pdf