Foul (basketball)

In basketball, a foul is an infraction of the rules more serious than a violation. Most fouls occur as a result of illegal personal contact with an opponent and/or unsportsmanlike behavior. Fouls can result in one or more of the following penalties:

• The team whose player committed the foul loses possession of the ball to the other team.
• The fouled player is awarded one or more free throws.
• The player committing the foul "fouls out" of the game.
• The player committing the foul is suspended from some number of subsequent games.