A foot on the semicircle removes one kind of charge—not every foul.
Published
Under FIBA’s current rule, the no-charge semicircle matters only on a defined penetration: an airborne player controlling the ball drives over the line for a shot or pass and causes contact with a defender who has at least one foot touching the semicircle area. That contact is not called a team-control foul unless the attacker illegally uses the hands, arms, legs or body. It is not automatically a blocking foul.
Quick ruling: under FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2024 v1.0a, Articles 2.5.7 and 33.10, the semicircle line belongs to the no-charge area. When all of Article 33.10’s conditions are met, ordinary body contact caused by the airborne ball-handler cannot produce a team-control charge. The result may be a legal no-call; call a defensive foul only if the defender independently makes illegal contact.
Scope
The ruleset and date used here
This page applies the FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2024 v1.0a, approved by the FIBA Central Board and valid from 1 October 2024, plus the Official Basketball Rules Interpretations 2024 v1.0a. As checked on 26 August 2026, that is the effective international 5-on-5 ruleset through 30 September 2026.
FIBA has published Official Basketball Rules 2026 v1.1, valid from 1 October 2026. Its Articles 2.5.7 and 33.10 retain the same core dimensions and no-charge tests. The separately labelled NBA section below uses the NBA 2025–26 rules; FIBA 3x3, mini-basketball, wheelchair basketball, schools, youth leagues and national competitions may have different rules or court markings.
Terminology
FIBA’s “restricted area” is not this arc
FIBA calls the marking under the basket the no-charge semi-circle. In FIBA terminology, the restricted area is the rectangular lane used for rules such as offensive three seconds and free-throw positioning. The NBA instead calls its block-charge arc the Restricted Area.
That vocabulary difference is not cosmetic. A claim about a defender “inside the restricted area” may refer to the lane under FIBA rules but to the four-foot block-charge arc in an NBA discussion. This page uses FIBA’s term except when describing the NBA variation.
Court marking
The FIBA line is part of the area
FIBA Article 2.5.7 sets a radius of 1.30 m, measured from the point directly beneath the centre of the basket to the outer edge of the semicircle. Two short parallel lines continue towards the endline, and imaginary lines beneath the front edge of the backboard complete the area.
The painted semicircle lines are part of the no-charge area. A defender with a toe or heel touching the line therefore satisfies Article 33.10’s location test. The location is judged when the contact occurs: the 2024 Interpretations say the special rule does not apply to a defender who jumped vertically and has no foot touching the area at contact.
Four-part test
Every condition must be present
FIBA Article 33.10 and Interpretation 33-3 require the following combination:
A penetration towards the basket: the offensive player drives over the semicircle line. A play developing from behind the backboard does not qualify.
Airborne ball control: the offensive player controls the ball while airborne.
A shot or pass: the airborne player attempts a field goal or passes the ball.
A defender in the area: at contact, the defender has one or both feet touching the no-charge area, including its line.
If any element is missing, ordinary cylinder, verticality and charge/block principles decide the collision. Unlike the NBA provision, FIBA Article 33.10 does not ask whether the defender was the on-ball defender or a secondary help defender.
Decision path
How to analyse the replay
Identify the ruleset. FIBA’s no-charge semicircle and the NBA Restricted Area do not share one universal test.
Decide whether the contact is material. Ordinary contact may be incidental and need no whistle.
Check the play’s route. Was this a penetration over the semicircle line, rather than a rebound or a move from behind the backboard?
Freeze the offensive action. Did the player control the ball while airborne and attempt a shot or pass?
Freeze the defender at contact. Did either foot touch the area or its line at that moment?
Look for separate illegality. A push-off, extended knee, non-vertical defender or move-under is judged even when the arc test is satisfied.
Choose the result. No-call, defensive foul and offensive foul lead to different scoring and restart consequences.
Main effect
No charge does not mean automatic block
When all four conditions are present, Article 33.10 says contact caused by the airborne offensive player is not called as a team-control foul unless that player illegally uses the hands, arms, legs or body. The semicircle therefore removes a particular offensive-foul outcome; it does not deem the defender to have fouled.
If the defender holds a legal position and causes no separate illegal contact, the collision can be a legal play and the game continues. If the defender moves into the attacker, leaves the cylinder, or illegally occupies an airborne player’s landing route, a blocking or more serious foul may be appropriate under Articles 33.3–33.6. The arc is one test inside the contact decision, not the decision by itself.
Exceptions
When the FIBA semicircle does not remove the charge
FIBA’s 2024 Official Interpretations, examples 33-3 through 33-10, give the important boundaries:
Behind the backboard: a play developing from the space between the no-charge area and the endline is judged under the ordinary contact rules.
Rebounding: the special rule does not apply to illegal contact after a shot rebounds.
Illegal extra action: either player may still foul by illegally using the hands, arms, legs or body. A ward-off, push-off or unnaturally extended knee is not protected.
Clearing a teammate’s route: a driver who passes to a trailing teammate and then crashes through a defender to clear the lane may commit a team-control foul.
Defender airborne at contact: if the defender jumped vertically and neither foot then touches the area, Article 33.10 does not apply; judge the contact under verticality and other ordinary principles.
Post play, off-ball screens and loose-ball collisions are also not converted into protected drives merely because they happen above the painted semicircle.
Outcomes
Score, free throws and restart depend on the foul
Legal no-call: play continues. A legal goal counts under the normal scoring rules.
Defensive foul on a shooter: under FIBA Article 34.2.2, a made goal counts plus 1 free throw; an unsuccessful attempt brings 2 or 3 free throws according to the shot area.
Defensive foul before the shooting act: the non-offending team receives a nearest-place throw-in, or 2 free throws when the defending team is in the team-foul penalty.
Team-control foul by the attacker: charge the personal foul and award the opponents a nearest-place throw-in; a shot released only after that foul cannot score. Article 41.2.2 does not award bonus free throws for a personal foul by the team controlling or entitled to the ball.
Dangerous contact: moving underneath an airborne opponent or other severe contact can require the unsportsmanlike or disqualifying-foul criteria, not merely an ordinary block-charge label.
Worked case 1
A defender’s heel is on the line
Situation: under FIBA 2024, A1 drives over the semicircle line, controls the ball while airborne and attempts a lay-up. A1 makes ordinary torso contact with B1, whose heel touches the painted semicircle.
Ruling: no team-control charge under Article 33.10. The line belongs to the area. Do not automatically call a block: if B1 made no illegal movement or extension, this can be a no-call.
Worked case 2
The same spot, but after a rebound
Situation: under FIBA 2024, A1 catches an offensive rebound and crashes through legally positioned B1, whose foot touches the semicircle line.
Ruling: the no-charge provision does not apply to rebounding play. If A1 is responsible for illegal torso contact under the ordinary charge/block principles, call a team-control foul. The decisive fact is the rebound, not B1’s foot on the line.
Worked case 3
The attacker passes, then clears the lane
Situation: under FIBA 2024, airborne A1 passes to trailing A2 and then deliberately crashes through B1 in the semicircle so A2 has an open route to the basket.
Ruling: team-control foul on A1. Interpretation 33-7 treats the body contact as an illegal attempt to clear A2’s path; the no-charge rule does not protect that separate action.
Worked case 4
The defender jumps straight up
Situation: under FIBA 2024, B1 jumps vertically from a position touching the semicircle. When airborne A1 makes contact, neither of B1’s feet touches the floor.
Ruling: Article 33.10 does not decide the play because its defender-foot condition is absent at contact. Apply the cylinder and verticality principles. A legal vertical contest can be a no-call; a non-vertical jump into A1 can still be a defensive foul.
Replay
Video review exists only where the competition uses IRS
FIBA Appendix F does not create universal replay for every basketball game. Where the Instant Replay System is in use, officials may review listed situations, including whether a called personal, unsportsmanlike or disqualifying foul met the relevant criteria. A head coach may use the single Head Coach’s Challenge on an Appendix F.3 situation; FIBA 2024 grants only one challenge whether it succeeds or fails.
A competition without IRS leaves the on-court decision subject to its normal officiating procedures. Event regulations may supplement the rulebook, so replay availability should never be inferred from the floor marking alone.
NBA variation
The NBA test depends on a secondary defender
The NBA 2025–26 Official Rules mark a four-foot-radius Restricted Area. The NBA Comments on the Rules say a secondary defensive player who establishes position within that area cannot draw a charging foul when the offensive player takes a path directly to the rim. Incidental contact remains a possible no-call, and an attacker who leads with a foot or unnaturally extended knee can still commit an offensive foul.
The NBA also has an explicit Lower Defensive Box exception: any defender may be legally positioned within the Restricted Area if the offensive player received the ball in that box. NBA timing asks whether the defender entered the path before the attacker began the upward motion. These secondary-defender, direct-path, upward-motion and Lower Defensive Box tests are NBA rules; they should not be imported into FIBA Article 33.10.
NBA Rule 13 permits an officials’ review in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when illegal block-charge contact has been found but the officials are unsure whether the defender was inside the Restricted Area. NBA Rule 14’s coach’s-challenge process is a separate competition procedure.
Common mistakes
Five shortcuts that produce the wrong ruling
“A foot on the arc is always a block.” In FIBA it can remove a team-control charge; a defensive foul still needs its own illegal act.
“The arc protects every airborne attacker.” The player must control the ball and attempt a shot or pass on the qualifying penetration.
“Primary defenders can ignore the FIBA semicircle.” Primary-versus-secondary status is not a condition in FIBA Article 33.10.
“The arc controls rebounds and baseline moves.” FIBA’s interpretations expressly return those plays to ordinary contact principles.
“Restricted area means the same thing everywhere.” FIBA uses the term for the lane; the NBA uses it for the four-foot block-charge arc.
Checked on 26 August 2026 against the then-effective FIBA 2024 rulebook and interpretations, the published FIBA 2026 rulebook taking effect on 1 October 2026, and the NBA 2025–26 rulebook. Competition regulations and national federation adaptations may supplement the FIBA baseline; this page does not treat local, school, youth, 3x3 or wheelchair rules as identical to full-court FIBA basketball.
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