How do personal fouls and yellow and red cards work?
Rule- Australia
- Water Polo Australia
- Club water polo
- World Aquatics rules
- All ages
- 2025/26
- Referees
- Personal fouls: one is recorded against any player who commits an exclusion foul or penalty foul. You indicate the player's cap number to the secretary. On a third personal foul the player is excluded from the remainder of the game, with a substitute entering after the earliest re-entry occurrence (immediately if the third was a penalty foul). The player must sit in a designated area near the bench, if available.
- Yellow card to a team official: an official warning to the head coach.
- Red card: the head coach, other team officials or bench players must leave the pool area immediately. You may show a red card without a prior yellow if the head coach's actions require it. If the head coach is excluded, another team official may replace them without the head coach's privileges: they cannot stand and move away from the bench, but can ask for a timeout.
- Players in the water: if a player persists in unsporting play or simulation, show a yellow card to the offending team and point to the player. If it continues, show that player a red card, visible to the team and the official table, as misconduct. Misconduct by a team member in the water also earns a red card plus the sanction.
Source: World Aquatics Competition Regulations Part Six, Article 16.
Added 24 Oct 2026