The new FIBA foul rules in basketball eScoring

Applicable to: Basketball Scoring Admins

Applicable to: Basketball England, Basketball Australia

Application(s): E-Scoring Portal

Overview

FIBA has changed how basketball fouls are named and counted for 2026. Those rules are available in PlayHQ eScoring from 1 October 2026.

Scoring itself hasn't changed. You record fouls the same way you always have, against the same players, at the same points in the game. What's different is the names of two foul types, and the way the app works out when a player is out of the game.

Please note: Not every competition switches over on the same day. In Australia the new rules are turned on one grade at a time, and every grade starts with them off. If you open a game and still see Technical and Unsportsmanlike, that grade hasn't been switched over yet, and that's correct. Basketball England is already on the new rules for every grade.

What's changed

The change	What you'll notice
The technical foul splits into two	Record a technical as Category One or Category Two Which one you record follows the referee's signal The category affects whether the player is out of the game
Disruptive and Flagrant replace the unsportsmanlike foul	Choose Disruptive for contact that breaks up play Choose Flagrant for contact that goes beyond fair play Unsportsmanlike no longer appears in the foul list
Fouling out is worked out for you	Two Category One and/or Flagrant fouls in any combination ends that player's game So does a fifth foul of any kind charged to the player Category Two and Disruptive fouls count towards the five, but never towards the two
New foul columns on the game details page	Administrators see the four new foul types as their own columns Games already scored under the old rules keep the columns they were scored with
Everything else stays put	Personal fouls, disqualifying fouls, bench technicals and free throws all work exactly as they do today

The foul list, side by side

With the new rules on	With the new rules off
Foul Technical Foul - Category One Technical Foul - Category Two Disruptive Flagrant Disqualifying Bench Technical	Foul Technical Unsportsmanlike Disqualifying Bench Technical

What this means for you

You record what the referee signals. The category and the foul type come from the call on court, not from a judgement at the scoring bench.
The app keeps count. You don't need to track which combination of fouls ends a player's game. eScoring works it out and tells you.
Nothing you've already scored changes. Fouls are saved as they were recorded. Results, player statistics, team foul totals and ladders all stay exactly as scored.
Your competition moves when it's ready. A grade keeps the current foul types until someone turns the new rules on for it.

Turning the new rules on for a grade

Competition administrators control this, grade by grade. Anyone who can edit a grade's game settings can do it.

In PlayHQ admin, open the competition and go to the grade you want to change
Open the grade's Game settings
Turn on FIBA 2026 foul rules (Technical Foul Category One and Two, Disruptive, Flagrant)
Save

The setting explains itself on screen: it applies the FIBA 2026 foul rules to that grade, splitting technical fouls into two categories and replacing the unsportsmanlike foul. With it off, the grade keeps the current foul types.

The toggle can be turned off again, but we don't recommend it. Switching a grade back returns it to the old foul structure, and your scorers go back to Technical and Unsportsmanlike part way through a season. Anything already scored under the new rules keeps its fouls and its columns either way.

Switch a grade between rounds, not in the middle of a game. eScoring reads the setting when a game is opened, so a game already in progress keeps the rules it started with.

Basketball England doesn't need to do any of this. The new rules are already on for every Basketball England grade.

Common questions

I've opened a game and there's no Category One button. What's wrong?
Nothing. That grade hasn't been switched to the new rules yet, so it's still using Technical and Unsportsmanlike. Speak to your competition administrator if you think it should have been switched over.

Does a Category Two foul still count towards a player fouling out?
It counts towards their five fouls, like any other foul. It doesn't count towards the two Category One or Flagrant fouls that end a player's game on their own.

Can a grade be switched back to the old foul types?
It can, by turning off FIBA 2026 foul rules (Technical Foul Category One and Two, Disruptive, Flagrant) in the grade's game settings, but we don't recommend it. The grade reverts to the old foul structure and your scorers lose the new foul types. Games already scored under the new rules keep the fouls they were scored with.

What happens if a grade is switched over halfway through a round?
Games already open carry on under the rules they started with. If a game is reopened afterwards, it will judge fouling out under the new rules, so switching between rounds avoids the confusion.

One grade's history shows both Unsportsmanlike and Flagrant fouls. Is that a fault?
No. Games played before the switch keep their old foul types and games played after it use the new ones. Both display correctly on game details, in reports and on the ladder.

Do the new rules change results, statistics or ladders?
No. Those read the fouls as they were saved, and turning the rules on or off doesn't rename, delete or recount anything.

A player already had an unsportsmanlike foul recorded before the switch. What happens to it?
It stays exactly as it was recorded. The new foul types apply to games scored after the grade is switched over.

Who can turn the new rules on?
Anyone with permission to edit a grade's game settings in PlayHQ admin.

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