Sports Wiki
Evergreen explainers on the rules, tactics, records and numbers behind football and basketball — built to be read long after the final whistle.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
The offside rule, explained: when a player is (and isn’t) offside
Offside in one sentence, the conditions that must all be true, and the situations where you are never offside — with the active-vs-passive distinction that trips people up.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
The handball rule, explained: when a handball is (and isn’t) a foul
Deliberate handball, the “unnaturally bigger” body test, and the special rule for goals scored off an arm — plus the accidental touches that are not punished.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
Fouls, yellow and red cards: what gets you booked and what gets you sent off
Direct vs indirect free kicks, the offences that earn a yellow, the ways to see red — including DOGSO and the second yellow.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
Charging vs blocking: basketball’s hardest call, explained
Legal guarding position, the restricted area, and why the same collision can be an offensive or a defensive foul depending on who got there first.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
Basketball fouls and free throws: personal, technical, flagrant and the bonus
How shooting fouls become free throws, when the team bonus kicks in, what technical and flagrant fouls are, and how many fouls foul you out.
- Rules25 Aug 2026
The advantage rule: why the referee sometimes waves play on after a foul
What “playing the advantage” means, how the referee signals it, the few seconds’ window to pull it back, and why a card can still come later.