17.2 Warning

1. 17.2.1  Unless the incident is so seriously unfair or objectionable that formal action cannot be avoided, a quiet informal word of warning or even a warning signal should be sufficient to make the offender aware that such behaviour is unacceptable. Wherever possible, this should be done without interrupting play, taking advantage of the next natural break such as the end of the rally or the end of the game.

2. 17.2.2  When, however, the umpire believes that an opponent may have been adversely affected or that the behaviour is likely to offend spectators or otherwise to be detrimental to the sport he or she should immediately declare a let and formally warn the offender, by holding up a yellow card, that further misbehaviour will incur penalties.

3. 17.2.3  When a formal warning has been given, a yellow marker should be placed near the score indicator, next to the score of the player who has been warned. Similarly if a player has had a penalty point awarded against him or her, both a yellow and red marker should be placed near the score indicator, if space permits. If both the umpire and assistant umpire are using score indicators then the cards should only be placed onthe assistant umpire’s indicator. These warnings apply for the remainder of the individual match or, in a team event, the remainder of the team match, and subsequent offences will incur penalty points.

4. 17.2.4  It should be remembered that, once a formal warning has been given, subsequent offences must automatically be penalised by the award of points. The umpire should not be afraid to use this procedure when it is justified, but if a formal warning is given too readily he or she may find that he or she has to penalise a player at a critical stage of a match for an offence that, to many people, may appear trivial.

17.3 Penalties

1. 17.3.1  If a player who has been formally warned commits a further offence in the same match the umpire should award 1 penalty point to his or her opponent and for a third offence he or she should award 2 points, each time holding up a yellow and a red card together to show the action he or she has taken. Should misbehaviour continue after the umpire has imposed these penalties he or she should suspend play immediately and report to the referee.

2. 17.3.2  When the umpire awards a penalty point the referee should be advised as soon as practicable, but without delaying play, to enable the referee, if he or she wishes, to come to the playing area so that he or she will be readily available in case of any further trouble. If the referee or his or her deputy is not in a position to see the display of cards it may be possible to use another pre-arranged signal or to send a messenger.

3. 17.3.3  Penalty points may sometimes be awarded after a game has ended, or 2 penalty points might be awarded against a player when his or her opponent needs only 1 point to winthe game. If the match has not ended any “unused” points are transferred to the nextgame of that individual match, so that it starts at the score of 0-1 or 0-2 in favour ofthe offender’s opponent, but if the match has ended they should be ignored. In this case the server is the one who should have been serving at that score according to the sequence established at the beginning of the match.

4. 17.3.4  In a team match, warnings and penalties are carried over to subsequent individualPage 22

matches. A doubles pair is regarded as having incurred the higher of any warnings or penalties incurred by either of the players; thus if one has been warned in a previous match and the other had incurred 1 penalty point, a first offence by either of them in the doubles match would incur 2 penalty points. A warning or penalty during a doubles match applies to the pair during that match, but only the offending player will carry it over to a subsequent individual match. The following example illustrates this point:

In a team match with 4 singles and 1 doubles matches, players A & B are paired to play the doubles match. In their first singles matches in this team match, A was warned and B incurred a penalty point. In the 2nd game of the doubles match A intentionally breaks the ball by stepping on it. The umpire awards 2 penalty points against A/B. In their next singles matches, each player carries forward 1 penalty point.

5. 17.3.5  In a team match it is necessary to record warnings and penalties so that they can be transferred to later matches, but it is advisable to do so also in individual events. This will allow the referee to take account of persistent bad behaviour when deciding, for example, whether to disqualify a player. The record can conveniently be a note on the scoresheet, stating who was warned or penalised and at what stage of the match, witha brief description of the offence. This recording of warnings should also be applied to coaches for similar reasons.

6. 17.3.6  It is clearly impracticable to award penalty points against a coach, and it would be unfair to award them against a player on whose behalf he or she may be protesting. If after a formal warning a coach continues to misbehave he or she should be shown a red card and sent away from the playing area until the end of the match or, in a team event, of the team match; where this action is taken the incident should be reported to the referee.