Fouls and conduct
IHF · 2025Legal contact and dangerous fouls · Head shots under the 2025 rules
Legal contact and dangerous fouls
Players may use an open hand to play the ball away, bent arms for controlled contact, and the trunk to block space. Holding, pushing, striking, or running or jumping into an opponent is illegal. Sanctions depend on direction, target, intensity and effect: progressive punishment, an immediate two-minute suspension, or disqualification. Particularly reckless, dangerous or malicious actions also require a written report. Dangerous contact with an airborne player can warrant disqualification even when the impact is small.
Head shots under the 2025 rules
A direct two-minute suspension applies when an unhindered open-play shooter hits the goalkeeper’s head, or a seven-metre shot hits it, unless the goalkeeper moves the head towards the ball to block it. For open play there must be no defender between shooter and goalkeeper, and the head must be the first contact point. The same two-minute sanction applies to a post-final-signal free throw hitting a defender’s head unless the defender moves it towards the ball to block. These specified cases are not automatically red-card offences.
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