Correcting a Player Foul
 

Gentleman, is there a period of time or can it be corrected anytime if a player is charged woth a foul and later on it is realized it was charged to the wrong player. Sit: Twin Players #21 and #11. Foul was clearly on #11, #21 on the other side of the court during foul call, but reported to the table as #21. No one notice because coach is barking out instructions to team at the time and the game is pretty intense. A couple trips up and down the floor and #21 picks up a foul, her fourth and now the coach says that should only be 3, then they realize where the mistake was made, on the last foul call. Can you fix it now if it is determined to be a mistake? Thanks.

Nope, not a correctable error.

This can be corrected at any time if you have definite knowledge that a mistake was made.

Peace

I understand thatit's not one of the correctable errors but more an administrative error. The score is one that can be corrected during any part of the game why not fouls?

My first thought was to correct it, but I wasn't sure if you could by rule. Personally, I'd fix it if the calling official remembered and agreed it was an error. Two or three trips up and down the court later?

It's a bookkeeping mistake. If the officials have definite knowledge that they charged the wrong player with a foul, they can fix that error at any time before the final score is approved. NFHS rule 2-11-11.

If the official reported one number and the scorer wrote down a different number, then you're right. It can be corrected at any time. If the official reports it on the "wrong" player, then it's an official's error, and would need to fall under the "correctable error" category to be fixable after the ball becomes live.

Correctable errors apply to free throws and points. Calling fouls on the wrong player is not a situation bound by those constraints. It's a separate rule as cited by Jurassic.

An official reporting the wrong number for a foul is not a bookkeeping error. It's an official's error. If I say "Blue 24," and the scorer records a personal foul on Blue 24, that is not a bookkeeping error.

However, I never seen a rule, case play, or interpretation on this situation. It would seem that it is not covered in the rules. If I'm the referee, I going to ask whoever called the foul who the foul was on. Whoever he says the foul is on is what we're going to put in the book.