# Law 30: Ball Returned to the Backcourt (FIBA Official Basketball Rules)

Basketball · Law 30: Ball Returned to the Backcourt · Insporta Book (https://book.insporta.app/basketball/laws/law-30-ball-returned-to-the-backcourt/)

Control in the frontcourt, what makes a return to the backcourt illegal, the airborne-steal exception and the throw-in that follows.

## 30.301 Illegal Return

Frontcourt control and the last-touch, first-touch rule.

### Test 1: Control and the illegal return

- A player touching the frontcourt with both feet holds, catches or dribbles the ball there, or it is passed between team-mates there. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.1.1)
- Its player last touches it in the frontcourt and a team-mate is first to touch it in, or after it touches, the backcourt. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.1.2)
- First touched by the team after it has touched the team's backcourt is an illegal return. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.1.2)
- The restriction applies to all situations in a team's frontcourt, including throw-ins. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.1.2)
- The rule does not apply to a player who jumps from the frontcourt, establishes new control while airborne and lands in the backcourt. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.1.2)
- The centre line is part of the backcourt, so he has part of his body in contact with it. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 2.5.2, 30.1.2)
- The rule is for a team in control of a live ball in its frontcourt. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.2)
- Last touch in front, first touch behind, by the same team. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.1.2)
- New control in the air is the exception. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.1.2)
- A pass back from the frontcourt to a team-mate in the backcourt is illegal; the defender's tip, the airborne steal and a backcourt dribble are not. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.1.2)

## 30.302 Situations and the Penalty

Dribblers, deflections, referees, quarter starts and the throw-in.

### Test 1: Situations and the throw-in

- The opponents throw in in their frontcourt from the place nearest the infraction, not directly behind the backboard. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.3)
- The ball is awarded to the opponents for a throw-in in their frontcourt. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.3)
- The ball being passed between players of the team in the frontcourt is frontcourt control. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.1.1)
- With a foot on the centre line he is touching the backcourt, and he is first to touch the ball there. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.1.2)
- The violation needs a Team A player to be the last to touch the ball in the frontcourt. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.1.2)
- At the start of a quarter the thrower-in may pass to a team-mate at any place on the court. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 17.2.3, 30)
- Touching a referee is touching the floor where he stands, here the backcourt, so the team's next touch is an illegal return. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 11.2, 30.1.2)
- A foot on the centre line is in the backcourt. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.1.2)
- The throw-in is in the opponents' frontcourt. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.3)
- The opponents throw in in their own frontcourt (the right half here) from the place nearest X. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 30.3)

Sources: FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2026 (v1.1), Article 30 (paraphrased in original wording; original questions authored from the Rules, not reproduced)

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