In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending upon the sport, but common causes for ejection include unsportsmanlike conduct, violent acts against another participant that are beyond the sport's generally accepted standards for such acts, abuse against officials, violations of the sport's rules that the contest official deems to be egregious, or the use of an illegal substance to better a player's game. Most sports have provisions that allow players to be ejected, and many allow for the ejection of coaches, managers, or other non-playing personnel. In sports that use penalty cards, a red card is often used to signal dismissals. In some sports, another player is permitted to enter the game in place of the player who has been ejected, but in others the team is required to continue the game with a reduced number of players.
The decision to eject a participant usually lies with one or more officials present at the contest (e.g. referees or umpires). In addition to removal from the contest, many sports leagues provide additional sanctions against participants who have been ejected, such as monetary fines or suspensions from future contests.
When the offender is ejected, they must leave the immediate playing area; in most cases, this means going to the locker room or other part of the venue out of sight of the playing area, or in extreme cases, leaving the facility grounds. In many youth sports leagues, ejected players are required to stay with their coach in the team area, or at least be supervised by an adult at whatever location the player is required to go. If a participant refuses to cooperate with an ejection, additional sanctions may be levied, such as forfeiture of the contest, monetary fines, or suspensions. Rarely, outside actions and sanctions from law enforcement authorities may be required.
Conditions
Basketball
In the National Basketball Association (NBA) and most other basketball games, a player or coach is ejected from the game if he accumulates two technical fouls of an unsportsmanlike nature or "type 1" flagrant fouls over the course of the game. Participants who commit a "type 2" flagrant foul or intentionally enter the stands are ejected summarily regardless of the number of technical fouls accumulated. Ejected players/coaches must leave the court area for the remainder of play, and must do so immediately, or else risk even heavier fines/suspensions. In the NBA, an ejection will result in, at minimum, a $1,000 fine; an ejection for leaving the bench during a fight carries at least a one-game suspension as well. In domestic games, refusing to leave after being ejected can result in a player being put on report. If being put on report does not provide enough encouragement for a player to leave the court, the official may award the game to the opposing team, regardless of score. Players who incur 16 technical fouls in a single NBA season are automatically suspended for one game; an additional suspension is imposed for each increment of two thereafter. Should a player receive the 16th technical foul in the last regular-season game, he will be suspended for the first game in the next season, unless if his team is in the playoffs, when he will be suspended for the first playoff game. In the playoffs, players are suspended if they receive seven technical fouls.
A significant rule change was made in 1981 whereby the NBA eliminated the ejection of a coach for three technical fouls caused by an illegal defense. Also, in the NBA, ejections and suspensions are not permissible if a technical foul is caused by an excessive timeout, delay of game, accidental departure from the coach's box, the destruction of a backboard caused by a play (such as a slam dunk), defensive hanging on any part of the basket unit to successfully touch a ball (Rule 12), or any remaining in the game after six fouls when a team is out of players because of fouls, injuries, and ejections under Rule 3, Section I, paragraph b. These technical fouls are referenced in the NBA rule book as "non-unsportsmanlike conduct technical fouls".
In games sanctioned by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), a player is ejected for two technicals (since October 1, 2014), unsportsmanlike fouls or one disqualifying foul. Technical fouls in FIBA include swinging of elbows without contact and flopping, which are not fouls in the NBA. A coach can be ejected upon having incurred two coach technical fouls, or a combination of three bench and coach technical fouls. There is no separation regarding a "non-unsportsmanlike conduct technical foul", as in the NBA, so two delay-of-game violations result in an ejection.
In NFHS contests, ejected players must remain on the team bench, so that they may continue to be supervised by a coach or other adult team representative. If an adult team representative other than the head coach, such as an adult assistant coach, can provide supervision from the court and to the locker room for the duration of the contest, the player may leave the visual confines of the playing area with this representative.
In National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) contests, ejected players are dismissed to the locker room.
In all cases and leagues, any requirement for an ejected player to remain on-site may be waived if the incident resulting in ejection requires intervention from law enforcement, such as where the ejected player has grievously assaulted a player, official, coach or spectator with purposeful intent.
Disqualification Basketball also features disqualification, also known as fouling out. A player who commits a certain number of personal fouls in a game (five or six in most leagues), is removed from the game and is said to have "fouled out". Unlike ejection, disqualification is not considered a punitive action but rather a natural consequence of a very physical sport with many instances of contact. Disqualified players are permitted to remain on the bench with the team (instead of being sent to the locker room, as with an ejected player) and are not subject to any further penalties (such as fines or suspensions); they can resume play in their next game. The NBA all-time leader in disqualifications is Vern Mikkelsen, who was disqualified 127 times in 631 games. In the NBA, a technical foul (which does not count towards suspension or ejection) is also assessed for re-entering a game after fouling out of a game in emergency situations listed in Rule 3, Section I when a team is reduced to five players. Once that occurs, a technical foul is charged if a player remains in the game after his sixth or subsequent foul, or as the last player to foul out, re-enters the game in case of injury to an eligible player that must be removed.
Baseball
In baseball, each umpire has a considerable amount of discretion, and may eject any player, coach, or manager solely on his own judgment of unsportsmanlike conduct. The ejectable offense may be an excessively heated or offensive argument with an umpire, offensive interference (contact with the catcher on a play at the plate), malicious game play (especially pitchers attempting to intentionally strike batters with the ball or a manager or coach ordering a pitcher to do so), illegally applying a foreign substance to a bat or otherwise tampering with a ball, using a corked bat, charging the mound, or otherwise fighting. Between players and umpires, there is a common understanding that a certain level of argument is permitted, but players who too vigorously question an umpire's judgment of balls and strikes, argue a balk or use foul language may risk an ejection. A player is also automatically ejected when a bat, glove, cap or helmet is taken off and thrown down in anger or confusion.
Persons other than players, coaches and managers, such as spectators, ballpark staff, mascots, or members of the media, may be ejected at an umpire's discretion. Depending on the circumstances, spectators who are ejected may also face arrest and prosecution. Bat boys and ball boys may be ejected for not wearing proper safety equipment.
In some cases, an ejection is followed by a fine or a suspension by the league if the player, or manager or coach, reacts in a very hostile manner towards the umpire. Also, any ejection for malicious game play will normally result in a suspension. Some managers will engage in arguments with umpires specifically to provoke an ejection, in hopes of inspiring a rally from their team. Former Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox holds the Major League Baseball (MLB) record for most times ejected with 161, while Hall of Fame umpire Bill Klem holds the record for most ejections issued by an umpire with 251.
Baseball has a rich vocabulary for describing ejections: a player or coach may also be "run", "thrown out", "banned", "given the ol' heave-ho", "sent to the clubhouse", "hit the showers", "tossed", "kicked out", "dumped", "sent off", "pitched", "bounced out", "canned", "chucked", or "booted". The umpire can signal an ejection by pointing to the dugout or waving his arm toward the dugout in a “throwing” motion, usually yelling at the ejected person to leave. Fans of a home team usually cheer when a player from the visiting team is ejected. Managers or other players usually come out of the dugout and push the offending player away so as to keep them from getting into more trouble with the umpire. Managers often are simultaneously ejected when attempting to protect a player or otherwise leaving the dugout during play. Once an ejection is called, the ejected person and other associated people usually continue yelling at the umpire, with more anger. This is colloquially known as “getting your money’s worth"—a reference to the automatic fine levied by most leagues (especially at the professional level) for getting ejected from a game.
American football Any player or team official who commits a personal foul (i.e., striking, kicking, kneeing) or act of unnecessary roughness against another player or team official, an act of unsportsmanlike conduct, or a palpably unfair act is liable to be disqualified from further participation if the referee is of the opinion that the act is flagrant. Any player or team official who fights with another player or team official, leaves the bench to take part in a fight, intentionally makes contact with or assaults a game official, or uses any item of equipment as a weapon is automatically disqualified.
If a player or team official is disqualified, their team is assessed a fifteen-yard penalty, but if a player or team official has been disqualified for a palpably unfair act, the distance or score penalty will be determined by the referee after consultation with the other officials.
Compared to other American sports (perhaps with the exception of basketball), ejections in American football are relatively uncommon considering the physical nature of the sport.
Professional football The North American National Football League (NFL) made an experimental rule change on March 23, 2016, for the following season stating that two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on a player would result in an automatic ejection from the game. Some coaches have expressed concern that this could result in a player with one such penalty being goaded by the opposing team into a second penalty to get them removed from the game.
From the 2018 season, players who commit helmet-to-helmet contact are automatically ejected if these are deemed to be flagrant.It's the year of ejections in the NFL: Inside the trend - Kevin Seifert, ESPN, 24 September 2018
College football