Is Soccer a non contact sport?

[Johnniem]

General heated discussion yesterday about whether football/soccer is a non-contact sport. My view is that it is officially a non-contact sport although I accept that contact does occur. If played within FIFA rules there should be no contact as any contact could lead to a foul, however, there is a limited amount of what is called 'permitted contact'. Does this make it a contact sport?

Bear in mind that a game of football could be started and finished without anyone actually touching anyone else (unlike rugby or American football - which I believe now to be categorised as 'collision sport'). I have been unable to find any comment in the rules of the game (as issued by FIFA) but I have found much comment on t'interweb which leads only to more confusion as there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer.

Can anyone lead me to an answer? Contact or non contact? Please don't be saying that 'football is a contact sport because players make contact' as this is not a reason why it is a contact sport. Basketball is a non-contact sport but has permissible contacts.

Would be good to settle this one but I suspect this may be impossible!

[RemainAllHoof]

In my opinion as a fan of contact sports(!)...

Surely a contact sport is one where you're allowed to forcibly control an opponent with contact. If you were allowed to kick someone's shins as part of a tackle then that would make it a contact sport. As you have to go for the ball and not the legs, it is definitely not a contact sport. The occasional accidental bump does not make it a contact sport but it would be accidental contact as a result of being close to someone. I mean, try forcibly bumping a striker in your penalty area and see what happens.

It's one of the reasons why I didn't really get into traditional sports because, when I was at school, I was already really keen on martial arts. At least with badminton, I could muck about with Escrima drills.

I say this as someone who has very little knowledge of football. (Which makes it all the more surprising why I have made so much relative to my deposit from betting on football. )




I attended a match in Tokyo and after the 90th minute, they were doing martial arts moves. I asked the guy next to me what they were doing and he said it was 3 minutes of ninjary time. Then the ref blew his whistle and I said, "It's going to kick off now." </Tim Vine>

Edited by RemainAllHoof on Monday 3rd October 11:22

[Johnniem]

Not many opinions here then....let's try the sport section....

[Antony Moxey]

There is contact in tackling which isn't automatically a foul, plus you can go shoulder to shoulder in a challenge without conceding a foul too. I'd say it's a contact sport, and it's football too, not soccer.