Professional foul Professional foul In various sports, a professional foul is a deliberate act of foul play intended to bring about an advantage for the perpetrator's team. Professional fouls are usually committed to prevent an opponent from scoring. In association football, a professional foul involves a defender fouling an attacking player in order to prevent them from scoring, or a handball offence that denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. The resulting free kick or penalty may offer the attacking team a lower chance of scoring than the original playing position, and the defending player therefore has an incentive to tactically foul the attacking
Flagrant foul deters undesired play by awarding possession of the ball to the offended team as an extra penalty. A simple personal foul may let the fouling team regain possession of the ball (by rebound or by award after a made free throw). However, a flagrant foul results in free throws and possession afterwards. Toward the end of a game, when a trailing team is committing intentional fouls to regain the ball, it must be careful not to use unnecessary or excessive contact, because a foul ruled Flagrant gives no advantage to the team committing the foul. FIBA basketball rules have similar