Fair catch catch is called a "mark"; see mark (rugby) and mark (Australian football) for more information (however in Australian Rules Football the player is not protected from the opposition team while attempting a mark). Fair catches featured in some extinct forms of football, and they have been abolished in other modern codes. In Rugby league the defensive player attempting to catch the ball cannot be tackled whilst in the air, though the attacking players can contest the ball by attempting to catch it themselves. A player who successfully catches the ball is able to be tackled only once they have landed
Comparison of American football and rugby union "fair catch kick" is analogous to a goal from mark which existed in rugby union at one time. American football has one further method of scoring which does not exist in rugby. If the team with possession causes the ball to enter its own endzone, and the ball carrier is then tackled while within the endzone, then this results in a safety which scores 2 points for the non-possessing team and then requires the possessing team to give up the ball by kicking to its opponent. In rugby union this does not score any points but results in a scrum