Referee's Guide to Basketball South Africa FIBA Rules Open 2026

A disruptive foul (Art. 37) is new in 2026. It is a player's illegal contact with an opponent that doesn't reach the level of a flagrant foul, but disrupts the flow of the game and puts the opponent at a disadvantage. It covers the tactical fouls that used to be called unsportsmanlike.

Criteria:

• Stopping a transition: unnecessary contact by a defender who is not legitimately trying to play the ball directly, to stop the offensive team's progress in transition. This applies until the offensive player starts the act of shooting.
• Stopping the clock at the end of a period: unnecessary contact by a defender anywhere on the court, not legitimately trying to play the ball, to stop the game clock or shot clock at the end of a quarter or overtime.
• From behind or the side on a breakaway: illegal contact from behind or laterally on an opponent heading for the basket with no opponent between them and the basket, while that player controls the ball, is trying to gain control, or has a pass released to them. This applies until the act of shooting starts.

Penalty:

• Charged to the offender. It counts as a team foul but does not count towards game disqualification.
• Free throws to the fouled player: 2 if not shooting; if shooting, the goal counts plus 1 free throw, or 2 or 3 free throws if the shot missed.
• Then a throw-in from the throw-in line in the team's frontcourt, opposite the scorer's table, with the shot clock reset to 14 seconds.

A flagrant foul (Art. 38) is a player's illegal contact with an opponent that goes against the spirit of sportsmanship and fair play and, by its nature or severity, goes beyond a personal or disruptive foul. Together with the disruptive foul, it replaces the old unsportsmanlike foul.

Criteria:

• not a legitimate basketball play against an opponent, with or without the ball;
• a reckless, violent or dangerous act that causes or may cause injury;
• excessive, hard contact while trying to play the ball or an opponent.

Penalty:

• Charged to the offender. It counts as a team foul and counts towards game disqualification.
• Free throws to the fouled player: 2 if not shooting; if shooting, the goal counts plus 1 free throw, or 2 or 3 free throws if the shot missed.
• Then a throw-in from the throw-in line in the team's frontcourt, opposite the scorer's table, with 14 seconds on the shot clock. If the foul is penalised before the game has started, the free throws are followed by the opening jump ball in the centre circle instead.

Disqualification: 2 flagrant fouls, or 1 flagrant and 1 category 1 technical foul, means game disqualification. Only the last foul is penalised.

From 2026, technical fouls are split by severity (Art. 36.2). Category 1 counts towards game disqualification; category 2 does not.

Category 1 (player) covers behavioural fouls, contact or non-contact, including:

• disrespectfully dealing or communicating with referees, the commissioner, table officials, opponents or people on the team benches;
• language or gestures likely to offend or incite spectators;
• baiting, taunting or provoking an opponent, including contact with hands, arms, body or ball that doesn't reach flagrant or disqualifying level;
• waving or placing hands near an opponent's eyes;
• excessive swinging of elbows without contact;
• faking being fouled.

Category 2 (player) covers non-contact behavioural or administrative fouls, including:

• delaying the game: touching the ball after it goes through the basket, stopping a throw-in or free throw from being taken promptly, or coming on court late to start the game or second half;
• hanging on the ring so it holds your weight (except momentarily after a dunk or to prevent injury);
• goaltending by a defender on the last free throw (1 point is awarded, then the technical foul penalty).

Bench technicals: a technical by anyone permitted to sit on the bench, for disrespect to or touching officials or opponents, or a procedural or administrative infraction, is category 1. It is charged to the head coach and does not count as a team foul.

Penalty (both categories): 1 free throw to the opponents, taken immediately. Play then resumes with the team that had the ball, or was entitled to it, from where the game stopped. A player's technical foul, of either category, counts as a player foul and a team foul.

Game disqualification (GD) of a player (Art. 36.2.3, 38.2.3, 41.4) happens on:

• 2 category 1 technical fouls; or
• 2 flagrant fouls; or
• 1 category 1 technical foul and 1 flagrant foul.

Disruptive fouls and category 2 technical fouls do not count towards GD.

GD of a head coach (Art. 36.2.4) happens on:

• 2 category 1 technical fouls for the coach's own unsportsmanlike behaviour ('C'); or
• 3 category 1 technical fouls where all are 'B' or 'BD' (for behaviour of others on the bench), or one of them is a 'C'.

When a GD results from one of these fouls, only that last foul is penalised. There is no extra penalty for the disqualification itself. The timer raises the GD marker.

Disqualifying foul ('D', Art. 39): any flagrant unsportsmanlike action, including flagrant aggression against opponents or referees, disqualifies the person straight away. The penalty is 2 free throws (or the goal plus 1, or 2 or 3, if on a shooter), then a throw-in from the frontcourt throw-in line opposite the scorer's table. The crew chief must report it to the organising body.

Fighting (Art. 40): substitutes, excluded players and accompanying delegation members who leave the bench area during a fight are disqualified. Only the head coach and first assistant coach may leave it, and only to help the referees restore order.

A disqualified person must leave within 30 seconds and go to the dressing room for the rest of the game, or leave the building. A disqualified head coach is replaced by the first assistant coach, or by the captain if there is none.

Player foul limit (Art. 41):

• A player who has committed 5 fouls is told by a referee and must leave the game immediately, being substituted within 30 seconds.
• Any later foul by that excluded player is charged to the head coach and recorded as a 'B'.
• A player head coach with 5 fouls as a player becomes an excluded player but may carry on as head coach.

Team fouls (Art. 42):

• Personal, technical, disruptive, flagrant and disqualifying fouls by a player all count as team fouls.
• A team is in the team foul penalty after it has committed 4 team fouls in a quarter. From the 5th team foul on, any personal foul on a player not in the act of shooting is penalised with 2 free throws, taken by the fouled player, instead of a throw-in.
• A personal foul by the team in control of the ball (or entitled to it) is still penalised by a throw-in for the opponents.
• Team fouls in an interval count towards the next quarter. All overtime team fouls count as part of the 4th quarter.

Free throws for a personal foul on a shooter:

• Goal made: it counts, plus 1 free throw.
• Goal missed: 2 free throws from the 2-point area, or 3 from the 3-point area.

Art. 15 was rewritten for 2026 to stop players manufacturing shooting fouls. It now separates two kinds of shot.

Jump shots and other moving shots:

• Starts when the player begins to move the shoulders and the ball upwards towards the opponents' basket.
• Ends when the ball leaves the hand(s), or an entirely new act of shooting is made, and for an airborne shooter, when both feet are back on the floor.
• If, after being fouled, the player passes the ball off, moves the ball upwards away from the basket, or is not facing the basket while moving the ball up, they are not in the act of shooting.

Drives to the basket (continuous movement):

• Starts when the player has gathered the ball and it comes to rest in the hand(s), after a dribble or a catch in the air, and the player continues the shooting motion before releasing the ball.
• This is an action in the frontcourt, typically starting between the 3-point line and the basket.
• Ends in the same way as above. A player who passes the ball off after being fouled is no longer in the act of shooting.

Other points:

• The player must be in the frontcourt. The only exception is the last action before the game clock expires for the quarter or overtime, or before the shot clock expires. Then the act of shooting can be from anywhere and starts when the ball is gathered and comes to rest in the hand(s).
• The number of legal steps taken has nothing to do with whether the player is in the act of shooting.
• A shooter whose arms are held can be in the act of shooting even if the ball never leaves the hand(s).

Under Art. 25, a player who catches the ball while progressing, or at the end of a dribble, may take two steps to stop, pass or shoot.

• First step: when one foot or both feet touch the court after gaining control of the ball.
• Second step: when the other foot touches, or both feet touch simultaneously, after the first step.
• To start a dribble, the player must release the ball before the second step.
• A player may not touch the court consecutively with the same foot, or both feet, after ending a dribble or gaining control.

Pivot foot:

• Catching with both feet on the floor: the moment one foot lifts, the other becomes the pivot foot. To start a dribble, the pivot foot may not lift before the ball is released. To pass or shoot, the player may jump off the pivot foot but must release the ball before either foot returns to the court.
• Stopping on the first step with both feet down (or landing on both at once): either foot may be the pivot.
• Landing on one foot: only that foot may be the pivot.
• Jumping off one foot on the first step and landing on both for the second step: no pivoting with either foot.

On the floor: falling and sliding with the ball, or gaining control while lying or sitting, is legal. Rolling over or trying to stand up while holding the ball is a violation.

Double dribble (Art. 24): after a dribble ends, a player may dribble again only after losing control because of a shot, a touch by an opponent, or a pass or fumble that touches or is touched by another player.

Shot in the air when the shot clock sounds: if it goes in, the goal counts; if it touches the ring, play continues; if it misses the ring, it is a violation, unless the opponents gain immediate and clear control.

The penalty for each of these violations is a throw-in to the opponents from the place nearest the infraction (not directly behind the backboard).

Goaltending (Art. 31) happens when a player touches a shot:

• while it is completely above the level of the ring and on its downward flight to the basket, or after it has touched the backboard; or
• on a free throw, while it is in flight to the basket and before it touches the ring.

Basket interference includes:

• touching the basket or backboard while the ball is in contact with the ring after a shot or the last free throw;
• reaching through the basket from below to touch the ball;
• a defender touching the ball or basket while the ball is within the basket;
• making the basket vibrate, or grasping it, so the ball bounces unnaturally or is helped in or kept out;
• grasping the basket and playing the ball.

Penalties:

Instant replay (Appendix F) only applies at games where the Instant Replay System is used. The 2026 rules added two new reviews (marked new).

When the game clock shows 2:00 or less in the 4th quarter and each overtime:

• whether a successful shot was released before the shot clock signal;
• for a foul away from a shooting situation: whether the game or shot clock had expired, whether the act of shooting had started (foul by an opponent of the shooter), or whether the ball was still in the shooter's hands (foul by a team-mate of the shooter);
• new: whether the ball was still in the thrower-in's hands when the defence fouled during a throw-in;
• whether a goaltending or interference violation was called correctly;
• which player caused the ball to go out-of-bounds.

At any time in the game:

• whether a successful shot was a 2 or a 3, and whether 2 or 3 free throws should be awarded;
• new: whether goaltending or interference occurred after a foul was called, and whether it was called correctly;
• whether a personal, disruptive, flagrant or disqualifying foul met its criteria, or should be upgraded, downgraded or treated as a technical foul;
• correctable errors (within the limits of Art. 45), clock malfunctions, the correct free-throw shooter, and involvement in any act of violence.

If replay finds a goaltending or interference call was wrong: a goal that went in counts (throw-in from the endline to the defence); if a team gained clear control, it gets a throw-in; otherwise it is a jump ball situation.

With the head coach's challenge (1 per team, where replay is used), the 2:00 time limits do not apply.

Forfeit (Art. 20). A team loses by forfeit if it:

• is not present, or cannot field 5 players ready to play, 15 minutes after the scheduled start time;
• prevents the game from being played by its actions; or
• refuses to play after the crew chief instructs it to.

The game is awarded to the opponents 20-0, and the forfeiting team gets 0 classification points. In a tournament, a second forfeit disqualifies the team and all its results are nullified.

Default (Art. 21). A team loses by default if, during the game, it has fewer than 2 players on the court ready to play.

• If the team awarded the game is ahead, the score stands as it was when the game stopped.
• If it is not ahead, the score is recorded as 2-0 in its favour.
• The defaulting team gets 1 classification point.