Sports Wiki
Evergreen explainers on the rules, tactics, records and numbers behind football and basketball — built to be read long after the final whistle.
- Rules26 Aug 2026
Technical and flagrant fouls, explained: the two most serious calls
Beyond ordinary personal fouls sit technicals and flagrants — one for conduct, one for dangerous contact. What triggers each, how they're punished, and how they get you ejected.
- Rules26 Aug 2026
Team fouls and the bonus, explained: why fouls start giving free throws
Why late in a quarter even a small foul sends a player to the line — how team fouls accumulate, what "the bonus" or "penalty" means, and how it shapes the endgame.
- Rules26 Aug 2026
Penalty kick rules, explained: the spot, the keeper's line and encroachment
How a penalty is actually taken — where everyone must stand, what the goalkeeper can and can't do, the rules on feinting, and when a penalty gets retaken.
- Rules26 Aug 2026
The drop ball, explained: how play restarts when the referee stops it
The neutral restart used when the referee halts play for a reason no other restart covers — how the modern uncontested drop ball works, and why football scrapped the old contested version.
- Rules26 Aug 2026
Double dribble and carrying, explained: the rules that govern the dribble
Two of basketball's most common violations — dribbling twice and carrying the ball — what each one is, why they're illegal, and where the line falls on a modern crossover.
- Rules26 Aug 2026
Defensive three seconds, explained: why a defender can't camp in the paint
The NBA rule that stops a defender parking under the basket — what counts as guarding, why the league added it, and how it differs from the offensive three-second rule.
- Rules26 Aug 2026
Backcourt and 8-second violations, explained: keeping the ball moving forward
Two rules that force the offence up the floor and stop it retreating — the 8-second clock to cross halfway, and the over-and-back rule that bars a return to your own half.
- Rules26 Aug 2026
The back-pass rule, explained: why keepers can't pick up a pass from a teammate
The 1992 law that stopped goalkeepers handling deliberate passes from their own players — why it was introduced, exactly what's banned, and how it changed the way keepers play.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
Throw-in, goal kick and corner: the restart rules, explained
What decides each way of restarting play when the ball goes out, the “foul throw” that catches players out, and the modern goal-kick change.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
Substitution rules, explained: five subs, three windows and concussion subs
How many changes a team gets, why they must be made in limited windows, and the extra rules for head injuries — with the detail that varies by competition.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
Penalty shootout rules, explained: how a tie is finally settled
Five kicks each, then sudden death — plus who can take them, where the goalkeeper must stand, and the ABBA experiment that was tried and dropped.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
Jump ball and the possession arrow, explained
How a game starts, what happens when two players tie up the ball, and why some leagues use a jump ball while others use an alternating arrow.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
Goaltending and basket interference, explained
Why you cannot swat a ball on its way down, what the imaginary cylinder is, and how the two violations differ — for both defenders and attackers.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
Goalkeeper rules, explained: the back-pass, the 6-second rule and handling
Where and when a keeper can use their hands — including the deliberate back-pass rule that changed football, and the limits on holding the ball.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
Fouls vs violations: the two kinds of basketball infraction, explained
Basketball breaks into two families of rule-breaking — one about contact and conduct, one about ball-handling and time — and they are punished very differently.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
Extra time and away goals, explained
The two 15-minute halves that follow a draw, why golden goal was scrapped, and why UEFA abolished the famous away-goals rule.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
How VAR works: the four reviews and the “clear and obvious” bar
The only four situations VAR can check, why the bar is “clear and obvious error”, and how the on-field review works — the referee, not the VAR, still decides.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
Traveling in basketball: the pivot foot, the gather and the two-step rule
Why “two steps” is not automatically a travel, what the pivot foot can and cannot do, and how the gather step works — with the NBA-vs-FIBA nuance kept simple.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
Stoppage time, explained: how added minutes are actually decided
What counts toward added time, who decides it, why the “minimum” board can be exceeded, and why recent seasons have seen so much more of it.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
The shot clock and time violations: 24, 14, 8, 5 and 3 seconds
The 24-second shot clock and its 14-second reset, plus the backcourt, three-second, five-second and over-and-back violations that keep the game moving.