NEW BASKETBALL RULES EXPLAINED: A PARENTS GUIDE

New FIBA basketball rules kicked in on 1 October 2026, and you might hear refs calling a few fouls you've never heard of. Don't stress — the game your kids play hasn't changed much. Here's the summarised version of what's new, so you know what's going on from the sidelines.

The big picture: FIBA wanted punishments to fit the crime. Tactical or minor stuff now gets treated more lightly, while genuinely rough or disrespectful behaviour is still taken seriously.

Goodbye "unsportsmanlike foul", hello disruptive and flagrant

The old unsportsmanlike foul is gone. It's been split into two new fouls, depending on how bad the contact is.

A disruptive foul is the milder one. Think of it as a "tactical" foul: grabbing or bumping someone just to stop play, not to actually go for the ball. Refs will call it when a player fouls to stop a fast break without genuinely trying to play the ball, fouls anywhere on the court to stop the clock at the end of a quarter or overtime without trying to play the ball, or fouls from behind or the side when the attacker has a clear run to the basket with no defenders in front.

A flagrant foul is the serious one. It's for contact that goes beyond normal basketball: contact that isn't a real basketball play at all, reckless or dangerous contact that could hurt someone, or excessively hard contact, even if the player was going for the ball.

For both fouls, the fouled player gets 2 free throws (or, if they were shooting, the basket plus 1 free throw, or 2–3 free throws if they missed). Then their team gets the ball back from the sideline in their attacking half, opposite the scorer's table. The key difference is that a flagrant foul counts towards being sent off — a disruptive foul doesn't.

Technical fouls now come in two levels

A technical foul (a "T") is for behaviour rather than normal game contact. They're now split into two categories.

Category 1 technicals are the serious ones: back-chatting or disrespecting the ref, table officials or opponents; taunting or provoking; offensive language or gestures; waving hands in someone's face; swinging elbows; and faking being fouled (flopping). These count towards being sent off.

Category 2 technicals are the minor ones: slowing the game down (such as touching the ball after a basket, not letting a throw-in happen, or being late back on court), hanging on the ring, and goaltending on the last free throw. These don't count towards being sent off.

Either way, a technical still counts as a personal foul and a team foul. The opposing team gets one free throw, then play restarts with a throw-in to whichever team had the ball when the technical was called. Local competitions can tweak the penalty, so it may look slightly different in our league.

When does a player get sent off?

This is the change most likely to affect your child. Previously, two technicals, two unsportsmanlike fouls, or one of each meant you were out of the game. That was seen as too harsh. Now a player is only sent off ("game disqualification") for two flagrant fouls, two category 1 technical fouls, or one of each.

Disruptive fouls and category 2 technicals don't count. So a kid who makes a tactical foul and hangs on the ring after a lay-up stays in the game.

Keep in mind that disruptive fouls, flagrant fouls and all technicals by a player still count as personal fouls and team fouls.

When is a player "shooting"?

This matters because a foul on a shooter means free throws, while a foul on a non-shooter often just means a sideline throw-in. FIBA tightened the definition because players were getting good at "selling" shooting fouls.

On jump shots and set shots, the shot starts when the player starts lifting their shoulders and the ball up towards the hoop. If they get fouled before that, it's not a shooting foul.

On drives to the basket (lay-ups), the shot starts once the player has gathered the ball into their hands after dribbling (or catching) and keeps moving up to the basket. This usually happens inside the three-point line.

On a jump shot, it's no longer a shooting foul if, after the contact, the player passes the ball off instead of shooting, throws the ball up away from the basket, or isn't facing the basket when they bring the ball up. On a lay-up, passing the ball off after the contact also means it's no longer a shooting foul.

Shots from your own half don't count as shooting — unless it's a genuine last-second heave as the quarter, overtime or shot clock runs out.

Small stuff: double dribble and new ref signals

Double dribble hasn't really changed — the wording was just tidied up. Once you stop dribbling, you can't start again unless you've lost the ball because you shot, an opponent touched it, or it touched another player on a pass or fumble.

There are also three new referee signals you'll start seeing. For delay of game, the ref holds an arm out flat and sweeps it across the body, twice. For a disruptive foul, the ref raises a fist, then brings it down into a "peace sign" (two fingers up). For a flagrant foul, the ref raises both arms above the head with fists crossed in an X.

What won't affect our games

Basketball Victoria has confirmed some changes don't apply to domestic competitions, so you can ignore them: court line colours, uniform rules, scoresheet markings, a wording change to officials' titles, tournament ranking rules and video replay.

The quick version

If you hear "disruptive foul", it's a tactical foul to stop a fast break or the clock, and it doesn't count towards being sent off. "Flagrant foul" means rough, dangerous or excessive contact, and it does count. A category 1 technical is for disrespect, taunting, flopping or swinging elbows, and it counts. A category 2 technical is for delaying the game or hanging on the ring, and it doesn't count.

The best thing you can do from the stands? Keep cheering, stay positive, and leave the refereeing to the refs — they're learning these rules too.