Appeals and protests
WBSC · 2026–2029An appeal asks the umpire to decide a specified infringement, such as a missed base or illegal re-entry. A protest challenges a misinterpretation or misapplication of a rule, or player eligibility. A disagreement with judgment alone, such as whether a pitch was a strike or a runner was safe, is not a valid protest.
The rule
An appeal asks the umpire to decide a specified infringement, such as a missed base or illegal re-entry. A protest challenges a misinterpretation or misapplication of a rule, or player eligibility. A disagreement with judgment alone, such as whether a pitch was a strike or a runner was safe, is not a valid protest.
In practice
For a playing-rule protest, the manager or head coach must notify the plate umpire before the next pitch, with additional end-of-inning and end-of-game deadlines. A written protest then follows competition procedures. Where no special filing limit exists, the rules generally regard 24 hours as reasonable. Do not confuse that filing period with the much earlier required notice during the game.
Sources & approach ↗