# Athletes voluntarily taking penalties in competition? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 3, 2002, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146 "2002-08-03T07:09:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Osbie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cdc98d/32.png) [@Osbie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osbie)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/1 "2002-08-03T07:09:46Z")
Has there ever been a professional (or college) athlete who has called a penalty on himself/herself after an official missed something? Is there even an opportunity for this to happen very often? ---
**Author:** ![Kipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Kipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kipper)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/2 "2002-08-03T08:13:38Z")
I can remember a New Zealand Golf Player, I think Grant Waite, calling a one shot penalty on himself for touching the ball during a profesional tournament in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![woolly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woolly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woolly)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/3 "2002-08-03T11:34:49Z")
Golf would probably be the sport in which this occurs most frequently. From [Golf Rules](http://www.golfinnyc.com/GolfRules.htm) > [@](#): > > While in first place by a stroke, Greg Norman disqualified himself from the $625,000 Daikyo Palm Meadows Cup in Brisbane, Australia in January 1990. Norman said that he had inadvertently taken illegal relief – moving his ball when he wasn’t allowed – on a drive into the water in the first round and only later overheard that such a gesture was outside the rules. Norman had shot 66 in the first round and a course record 63 in the second round before withdrawing. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/4 "2002-08-03T14:16:55Z")
In sailing events, if an incident occurs on the course, the party “at fault” takes the prescribed penalty of a 360 deg or 720 deg turn before the next mark. If nobody does it, there are Protests after the race, and a ruling committee decides who is at fault, and the penalty is worse. This is not a case of an official missing something per se, but rather not being able to see it. Deciding whether or not either of these are athletes is another thread. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/5 "2002-08-03T14:18:38Z")
I’ve never heard of any individual or team correct an official’s call to their own disadvantage. Golf is the only sport that I’ve ever heard of where players will call a penalties on themselves in cases where an official hasn’t. The general opinion seems to be that “a shoemaker should stick to his last.” The players’ job is to play, the officials’ job is to officiate and both stick to their respective jobs. ---
**Author:** ![breaknrun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbce88/32.png) [@breaknrun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breaknrun)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/6 "2002-08-03T15:09:14Z")
I have heard of this happening in snooker tournaments though I’ve never seen it myself. I think the idea that only officials should call fouls sounds like a bit of rationalizing for a dishonest player. Some fouls are impossible for the referee to see so it makes sense for players to call fouls on themselves in certain situations. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/7 "2002-08-03T15:17:52Z")
Curlers are required to call their own fouls, since generally speaking, except at very high levels of tournament play, there aren’t any officials. The most common instance is “burning a rock” - when a curler comes into contact with their own team’s rock as it’s coming down the ice. Often, the player is the only person who knows of the contact. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/8 "2002-08-03T19:02:17Z")
I’ve seen a tennis player do it. It was at Wimbledon years ago. Some dude served an obvious ace which was called foul. There was no overrule, so on the second serve, the guy not serving made no attempt at all to hit the ball. Oh, in 1999, in the Tour de France, a Belgian rider Ludo Dierxcens (sp??) voluntarily withdrew from the race. He had just won a stage, when he remebered that he had taken a spoonful of cough medicine or an aspirin or something four months before. He didn’t (and wasn’t) want to be caught up in any drug scandal. It seems there are still one or two sportsmen/women still around ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/9 "2002-08-03T19:47:59Z")
In most team sports where there are officials, players won’t call penalties on themselves. In sports like baseball, football, basketball, and hockey, part of the strategy is to see just what you can get away with before the officials catch on. Basketball is unique among sports in that one of the ways for a team that is trailing to catch up is to break the rules, i.e. intentionally foul someone in order to get the ball back. You can’t do that in football or hockey. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/10 "2002-08-03T20:56:34Z")
**UncleBill** ’s post reminds me of Formula 1 drivers… if they cut a corner and gain advantage from it, they reduce their speed on their own until they give back any advantage they may have gained over any other drivers as a result of cutting the corner… also, if they make a false start, sometimes they visibly slow down before accelerating again… to negate any advantage the false start would have given them… they do this, ofcourse, to avoid more severe punishment from the race stewards… ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/11 "2002-08-03T21:09:48Z")
I think that the Formula One rules are also written to prohibit the gaining of advantage from certain things, rather than outright prohibiting those things. Thus, the slowing down would be done to keep the rule from being violated. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/12 "2002-08-03T21:19:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by waterj2 \* > \*\*I think that the Formula One rules are also written to prohibit the gaining of advantage from certain things, rather than outright prohibiting those things. Thus, the slowing down would be done to keep the rule from being violated. \*\* point taken. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/13 "2002-08-03T21:24:27Z")
I have seen a few college basketball games where a player proclaimed mightily that it was he, not his teammate, who committed a foul. The other player was either a better player or closer to fouling out. In amatuer sailing, I once took a penalty turn after my boat touched a corner buoy. It turned out no one else had seen the infraction. After the penalty turn, I won the race by a fraction of a second. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/14 "2002-08-03T22:44:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by breaknrun \* > **I have heard of this happening in snooker tournaments though I’ve never seen it myself** It happens quite often in professional snooker. There is a gentleman’s agreement that you should call your own foul if the referee doesn’t notice it, and the players almost always do all it. I’m not sure how this tradition started, but woe betide the snooker player who breaks the rule and gets caught. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/15 "2002-08-03T22:51:34Z")
I meant “and the players almost always do **call** it” ---
**Author:** ![HookerChemical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@HookerChemical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HookerChemical)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/16 "2002-08-03T23:06:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobT \* > \*\*In most team sports where there are officials, players won’t call penalties on themselves. In sports like baseball, football, basketball, and hockey, part of the strategy is to see just what you can get away with before the officials catch on. > > Basketball is unique among sports in that one of the ways for a team that is trailing to catch up is to break the rules, i.e. intentionally foul someone in order to get the ball back. > > You can’t do that in football or hockey. \*\* Actually, you will sometimes see a team intentionally take a penalty in football, but the other team will often decline it. It happens before punts where the kicking team takes a delay of game penalty so their kicker can more easily put the ball inside the 10 yard line without resulting in a touchback. Unless you meant soccer-football. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/17 "2002-08-04T00:08:49Z")
In either football or American football, intentionally taking a penalty will never help you win the game if you are behind. The best you can do is take away a sure scoring chance and hope that the offense can’t convert from either the good field position or penalty or free kick (whichever applies). Those little 5-yard penalties teams take in American football won’t help you catch up. They are just strategic. Actually, they’re really just annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/18 "2002-08-04T01:18:46Z")
To expand on the comment on curling, they do regularly call “burned rock” (touching a moving rock with your broom) even though neither the opponent nor the referee can usually see it. This happens even at the very highest level. In the Canadian national men’s championship (Brier) I once Russ Howard, at the time the top curler in the world most likely, turn his back and tell his opponent to place an illegally moved rock (it had been hit by a burned rock) wherever he thought it should do and the opposing captain clearly made no attempt to improve it from where it had been. There is one violation (releasing your throw over the “hog line”) that the players are in no position to call and don’t. Major tournaments have officials for that and I guess for the rest, they ignore the rule. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/19 "2002-08-04T02:14:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobT \* > **In either football or American football, intentionally taking a penalty will never help you win the game if you are behind.** Well, I’ve seen it help in a CFL game. Team was 3rd and a long yard, a point behind, with just over than a minute to go in the game. Ball was on the 20. Offence stayed on, lined up as usual, and the QB never signals for the snap. Takes a time count violation and a five yard penalty. Third down repeated. Ball’s now on the 25, special team comes on for the field goal. The five yard penalty is meaningless, but a valuable 20 seconds got chewed off the clock. Kicker makes the winning field goal, and the opposing side has less time to try to make it up than they would have had, but for the penalty. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146/20 "2002-08-04T04:14:33Z")
Relatively recently a tennis player (I think it was Johansson)overruled an out-call at match point down, thereby conceding the match to his opponent. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-voluntarily-taking-penalties-in-competition/122146.md?page=2)