Officiating in sport
The people and decisions that keep sport fair — referees, umpires, judges, and the calls and signals they use — what each does and how the idea works across different sports.
Browse officiating
Each entry is cross-linked to the sports it belongs to and the terms around it.
Advantage
In many sports, officials let play continue after a foul when stopping would help the offender, so the fouled team keeps the advantage it has gained.
Foul call
A foul call is an official's ruling that a player broke a rule of contact or conduct, triggering a penalty such as a free kick, free throw or penalty.
Judge
A judge is an official who scores performance in judged sports, awarding marks for execution and difficulty rather than counting goals or timing a race.
Line Judge
A boundary-line official who calls whether the ball or player is in or out and flags foot faults, working under the head referee across many sports.
Out-of-Bounds Call
An official's ruling that the ball or a player in possession has left the legal playing area, stopping play and handing a restart or possession to the opponent.
Penalty Signal
A standardized hand or flag signal an official uses to announce a foul, penalty, or restart so players, teammates, and spectators can read the call.
Referee
The primary on-field official who enforces the rules, controls play, penalises fouls, awards restarts, and blows the whistle to start and stop a match.
Scorekeeper
The official who keeps the authoritative record of a contest — score, fouls, and statistics — usually seated at a scorer's table beside the timekeeper.
Start and Stop Signals
The whistle, gun, bell or hooter an official uses to begin and end play or a race, plus the rules that keep starts clean and penalise false starts.
Timekeeper
The timekeeper is the official who runs a contest's clock — starting and stopping time, timing rounds, races and periods, and signalling when time expires.
Umpire
A match official who rules on lines, serves and dismissals in racket, bat-and-ball and net sports such as tennis, cricket and baseball — and, in racket sports, also keeps the running score.
Video Review
Video review lets officials re-examine footage of a contested moment to confirm or overturn a close call — a goal, a line, a foul — an aid used across many sports.
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