Unsportsmanlike conduct

Examples include verbal abuse, taunting of an opponent or a game official, an excessive celebration following a significant play, or feigning injury.

The official rules of many sports include a general provision whereby participants or an entire team may be penalized or otherwise sanctioned for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls may lead to the offender's ejection in the NFL, depending on the nature of each foul (a rule first implemented for the 2016 season after the events of the previous season's clash between New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and Carolina Panthers defensive back Josh Norman; one of the first ejections under this rule was Giants center Weston Richburg with the second foul being for a cheap shot against Norman in a Week 3 clash with the Washington Redskins, which had added Norman to the roster that offseason).

[3] During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the definition of unsportsmanlike conduct was expanded to include violating protocols designed to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Rough play is the foul called for unsportsmanlike violent behavior; it carries a 25-yard penalty, the largest in all gridiron football.

[6] Other examples include extravagant goal celebrations (e.g. removing one's jersey) and simulating actions intended to deceive the referee (diving).

[8][9][10] In-game punishments for offences are not substantial and often limited to a handful of penalty runs, but can have much wider consequences as the umpires call into question the honour, integrity and honesty of the player.

In fighting sports such as boxing, unsportsmanlike conduct such as low blows or elbowing can result in a competitor losing a match by disqualification.

[14] Under rules for high school boys/girls' lacrosse, a second unreleasable unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the same player is an automatic ejection foul.

This was invoked against Michael Waltrip Racing as a result of apparently gaming the system in order to allow their driver Martin Truex Jr. to make the 2013 Chase for the Cup.

Unsportsmanlike conduct also includes attempts by players of match fixing, which has seen teams deliberately lose (a thrown game) or achieve draws or select scores, in order to receive a more favorable knockout bracket or a higher draft pick.