Is Soccer a Contact Sport

Soccer is the most popular and loved sport around the world. We can say that people around the world live this game as if it is a religion. Although the game is known for ages still one question persists among the fans: Is soccer a contact sport? We have researched this and learned about the facts that say that Soccer is a contact sport. We have written all these facts to make it clear to you why is soccer considered a contact sport?

Meaning of Contact Sport?

Before understanding why exactly soccer is regarded as a contact sport. You need to understand the meaning of contact sport. There are various definitions of contact sports. In simple words, the meaning of the contact sport is the sport that allows players to touch while playing the game. 

The contact sports are divided into 4 categories: 

• full contact or collision
• semi contact
• limited contact
• non-contact

In full-contact sports, contact is part of the game. If it is removed from the game there won’t be any sense for the sport. It can also be referred to as a collision sport where contact is an integral part of the game. 

While in noncontact sports the players are not allowed to contact in the sport. If they come in contact that means they have been wrong somewhere. An example of a noncontact sport can be swimming there if you come in contact with other participants something has been wrong. 

What are Examples of Contact Sports?

Now, as you know the different types of contact sports you might be wondering, is soccer a high contact sport? or Is soccer a low-contact sport? So, let’s understand this with different examples of contact sport.

• Full contact sport as I mentioned earlier in the sport in which complete contact is there such as in kabaddi complete collision is allowed. You can check the rule book of kabaddi. Without collision, this sport has no meaning.

• Basketball is an example in which contact with the players is allowed to a limited extent. 

• Soccer, Cricket, and football are the best examples of limited contact sports. These don’t allow complete contact, instead, they have laws regarding having contacts with the players. 

Reasons Why Soccer Is a Contact Sport?

1) Legal Contact

In soccer legal contact is often regarded as a shoulder to shoulder. This can be commonly seen when two players of opposite teams are moving parallel to each other and one tries to move the other player away from the ball while the other one tries to keep possession of the ball. 

Front blocking the other player is also a fair charge according to the rule books of FIFA. In simpler words, we can say that fair charge is the space to use physical contact. 

According to this rule, players are expected to have one foot on the ground and not apply too much pressure to push the player through the shoulder to shoulder contact.

2) Illegal contact

According to law 12 of the FIFA rule book, illegal contact is something in which the player kicks, jumps, strikes, trips, or tries to trip the player. Any of these actions by players results in a foul. 

According to rule 12, it is also illegal to charge without a ball between the two players. This is usually observed in slide tackle. In this, the player tries to put down the opponent player just to assault him while the ball is missing between them. 

Is contact allowed in Soccer? After learning about the illegal and legal contacts in Soccer you got the answer to this question. So when anyone asks you this question you can explain to them about contacts in Soccer. 

3) Accidental Contact

Accidental contact is something in which players collide with each other. It’s obvious that as many players are running in the same space there are chances that they might collide with each other. This is the reason that soccer is sometimes regarded as a collision sport. This contact does not come under the category of legal or illegal. 

Examples of accidental contact include two players colliding while trying to advance the ball at the same time. Players running for 50-50 balls collide with each other. Collision is also considered accidental when one player jumps over the other player who stands up at the same time. 

So, Is soccer a contact sport?

As you take a glance at the topics we have discussed above you can infer that soccer is most definitely a contact sport. Certainly not similar to wrestling, kabaddi, or boxing in which contact is the basic element. But we can surely interpret that without the contact element soccer wouldn’t have existed as beautiful a game as it is now.