Section 7: Violations & Penalties
7.1 Progressive Punishment System
The IHF uses a progressive punishment system for personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct:
- Warning (yellow card): Given for the first minor foul or unsportsmanlike act. Each team may receive a maximum of 3 warnings collectively; after 3, further infractions result directly in 2-minute suspensions (IHF Rule 16).
- 2-minute suspension: For significant fouls, repeated minor infractions, illegal defensive actions, and unsportsmanlike conduct. The penalised player must leave the court for 2 minutes, and the team plays short-handed. A third 2-minute suspension for the same player results in automatic disqualification (IHF Rule 16).
- Disqualification (red card): For assault, dangerous play, serious unsportsmanlike conduct, or a third 2-minute suspension. The disqualified player is out of the match, and the team plays short-handed for 2 minutes before substituting (IHF Rule 16).
- Report (blue card): Shown alongside a red card for particularly severe offences (e.g., assault). The incident is referred to the IHF Disciplinary Commission for further sanctions, which may include multi-match suspensions (IHF Rule 16).
7.2 Defensive Fouls
- Body contact fouls: Holding, pushing, tripping, hitting, or charging an opponent: free throw plus possible progressive punishment (IHF Rule 8).
- Destroying a clear chance: Grabbing a player's throwing arm, tackling from behind, or otherwise fouling a player with a clear path to goal: 7 m throw plus 2-minute suspension (IHF Rule 8).
- Endangering an opponent: Tackling at high speed, contacting the head or neck, or any action that puts an opponent's physical safety at risk: immediate 2-minute suspension or disqualification depending on severity (IHF Rule 8).
- Back-pass rule: Deliberately playing the ball to one's own goalkeeper inside the goal area: 7 m throw to the opposition. This prevents teams from stalling by passing back to the goalkeeper in a protected zone (IHF Rule 8).
- Defensive wall formation: When defenders line up at the 6 m line to block shots, only legal body contact (chest and front of body) is permitted. Extending arms to block shots outside of normal body width, or holding attacking players in the wall, constitutes a foul (IHF Rule 8).
7.3 The 7-Metre Throw (Penalty)
Awarded when a clear scoring opportunity is illegally destroyed anywhere on the court. The thrower stands behind the 7 m line and may shoot using any technique. The goalkeeper must remain behind the 4 m restraining line until the ball is released. All other players stand outside the 9 m line. The thrower must shoot within 3 seconds of the referee's whistle (IHF Rule 14).
7.4 Goalkeeper Headshot Protection
Amended IHF Rules 8:8d and 8:8e, effective 1 July 2025, standardised the sanction for shots that strike the goalkeeper's head. Previously, hitting the goalkeeper's head with the ball on a 7 m throw or on a free throw taken after the final signal was punished with automatic disqualification (red card). Under the amended rules, such headshot situations — including an unhindered shot in open play — are instead punished with a 2-minute suspension for the shooting player, unless the goalkeeper's own head movement toward the ball was a genuine attempt to block the shot, in which case no offence is called. The amendment standardises what had previously been an inconsistent set of sanctions applied to headshots occurring in different phases of play (IHF Rule 8:8d, 8:8e).