The top five bizarre rules in sports

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 11: The big screen displays the decision to abandon the match as a tie via the Duckworth-Lewis method after the 4th Natwest One Day International match between England and India at Lord’s

Throughout the history of mankind there have been sports that have set the adrenalin rushing, some as dangerous as gladiatorial fights and some as gentle as curling. In the early years, sports were synonymous with masculinity: most of the sports played by our ancestors were show of power and in many cases, even future carnal relationships were dependent on the outcome of a particular bout or a contest.

As man gradually civilized he felt the need of uniformity of sports, although most sports still maintain a very high level competitive spirit they have been rendered relatively harmless by the introduction of homogenous rules across Countries or federations. Every modern sport has a rule making body that lays down the code by which the sport has to be played but as Benjamin Franklin once said “Beauty and folly are old companions” Some of these rules continue to defy common sense and worse still some of them result into some very bizarre consequences. Here is my list of the weirdest rules in the world sports:-

5.) Duckworth and Lewis Method: While Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis may have been excellent statisticians, their method has proven time and again that cricket is more than just statistics and complex mathematical relationships. Even though the method’s formulation is statistically sturdy it has some glaring loopholes that have resulted in many strange situations, many of them being in the position of tournament deciders.

The D/L method exemple gratia does not take into account that the team batting second may have used up more (or less) of the power play overs in the proportion of the total number of overs bowled than the team batting first. The D/L method also assumes that in a typical inning the scoring rate always accelerates first slowly and then more rapidly, this reminds one of the values most commonly found in Victorian England where people tended to categorize and stereotype everything from skin colors to run rate.

Sport – cricket

State – still in play

4.) Olympics non-sponsors: The Olympics have a long-standing rule that any athlete who is competing in an event cannot mention the name of a brand that is not officially associated with the Olympics. While this rule served some purpose when only amateurs participated in the Olympics, in the modern times it only reminds one of an Orwellian totalitarian organization.

It is laughable that players cannot even mention names that have become generic over time. For example, if an Indian athlete tweets he is having Maggi he is liable to receive charges for a harmless sentence which sure could not have ruffled a feather anywhere in the world in a different setting.

Apart from the very obvious logic, it also costs a huge dent financially to the personal sponsors of some players. Companies that had invested a lot of money and resources into training young players could not see their name featured on their jerseys and equipment. This rule was met with wide protests among the athletes and media alike which manifested itself in tweets like #rule40 and #wedemandchange.

Surely you must be joking Lord Coe.

Organization – IOC

State – still in play

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – SEPTEMBER 19: Shotputter Valerie Adams of New Zealand poses with her London Olympics Gold Medal at The Cloud on September 19, 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. Adams has been awarded the medal, after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) disqualified Belarus.

3.) 100 m false start - This rule (before it was wisely changed in 2010 by the IAAF) of the flagship event of any athletics meet in the world 100 metre sprint baffled everyone. The rule said that if an athlete false starts the race for the first time he will be warned and the race would restart but the second time, even if some other sprinter committed a false start, he would immediately be disqualified, despite the fact that it was his first mistake whereas the sprinter who failed the first time would be awarded another attempt.

A simple illustration of this rule would be – if eight runners are taking part in the race and number two false starts, the race will begin all over again but in the next try if racer number four false starts, he will be at once be sent off in spite of the fact that number four has committed only one mistake and so has racer number two, but racer number two gets to legitimately have a shot at the title while racer number four will be sitting unceremoniously on the bench.

This rule came under harsh criticism from various sources, that led to its alteration in 2010.

Sport – athletics

State – In play from 2003 to 2010

ROME, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 19: (L-R) Italian Olympic medal winners in mens boxing at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Clemente Russo and Vincenzo Mangiacapre, pose with their medals during the victory parade on September 19, 2012 in Rome, Italy.

2.) Goal on free kick - The FIFA rule book says that, “if a direct free kick is kicked directly into the team’s own goal, a corner kick is awarded to the opposing team.” Yes, you read it correctly: a corner kick and not an own goal. This rule, be as it may, cannot be defended by the Gods of Wisdom themselves. While an intentional point may be raised, is the case with any own goal not the same? If that is the crux of the rule, then FIFA should contemplate awarding corner kicks to all types of own goals, since no player in his right mind will score an intentional own goal.

Moreover if a player is foolish enough to score an own goal on a direct free kick, what sporting offence should be more severely penalized?

Sport – football

State – still in play

BARCELONA, SPAIN – OCTOBER 07: Lionel Messi (L) of Barcelona looks at referee Carlos Delgado Ferreiro prior to scoring from a free kick during the la Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Camp Nou stadium on October 7, 2012 in Barcelona, Spain.

1.) David DeJesus, out or not out: First on our list is a bizarre rule used in baseball which enabled one David DeJesus of Kansas city to bat twice in the same inning (unthinkable for the cricket fans out there eh?). In a game of baseball, the batting order has to be declared prior to the match and the order has to be followe. On July 1, 2005, this hilarious incident took place: Kansas City manager Buddy Bell reported a different lineup to the umpires and to the dugout.

In the bottom of the first inning, David DeJesus led off with a single. The other team’s manager Mike Scioscia then spoke with plate arbiter Jerry Crawford about the batting order. Since Angel Berroa was listed as hitting first on the official lineup card, he was called out and DeJesus was told to bat again. The incident sent the crowds’ heads spinning as they were clueless about who had gotten out.

Sport – baseball

State – still in play

PHOENIX, AZ – SEPTEMBER 30: David DeJesus #9 of the Chicago Cubs gets caught in a run-down on the third base line with pitcher Brad Bergesen #52 of the Arizona Diamondbacks during the seventh inning of a MLB game at Chase Field on September 30, 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona. DeJesus was out on the play.

Honorable Mentions

1.) Do not bounce the ball goalkeeper: Possession is counted as the ball being in a goalkeeper’s arms or hands. A goalkeeper cannot pick the ball up again after he has lost the possession until another player has touched it. Though the rules do state that a save from the keeper is exempt from this, a keeper is allowed to keep the ball close to his chest after he has parried it. For example, this does mean that whenever a keeper bounces the ball, he is actually committing a foul and the opposition should be awarded an indirect free-kick, however stupid this rule may sound, it could not make it to the list because this rule is hardly ever enforced.

Sport – football

state- still in play

2.) Shot on target not considered safe: In field hockey, (India’s national sport) a shot, however unsafe it may be, is considered safe if it is heading goalward. This rule, though dangerous and unbecoming of sporting spirit, could not make it to the top because of two reasons, one being no one can undermine the importance of goal scoring since that is what wins you matches and sometimes you have to do whatever you have in your powers to make it happen, another being the fact that more often than not, referees use their discretion in this respect and genuinely rule out dangerous hits.

Sport – field hockey

State – still in play

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 11: Christopher Wesley of Germany in action with Marcel Balkestein of Netherlands

3.) Back pass rules in football have been contentious since time immemorial. One rule says that if an outfield player performs the trick of flipping the ball on to his head and then heading it towards the goalkeeper he will be awarded a yellow card irrespective of whether the goalkeeper picks up the ball or not (back pass or no back pass, the player is penalized). This rule though befuddling to football fans is not very widely enforced and players these days know better than heading the ball to the goalkeeper.

Sport – football

State – still in play