Rule 17

Know your rights as a competent referee in managing unruly players:

This is the link to a PDF copy of a summary of rule 17.

It is reproduced here for ease of reference:

Guidelines for the Application of Rule 17 (Conduct on Court)

Rule 17 mandates that in the event of unacceptable behaviour on court the Referee ”shall penalise the
player.” However, the severity of the offence and the nature of the penalty are left to the discretion of
the Referee. This has led over the years frequently to the imposition of different penalties (or none at
all) for similar offences, depending on who is refereeing. On the one hand, a harsh (inappropriate)
penalty might be assessed for a single or mild offence; while on the other hand, a serious offence is
penalized lightly, or not at all. The players do not know in advance what standards will be applied, and
the referees are left individually to set their own standards.

The development of these Guidelines is an attempt to bring some order to the existing chaos, and to
offer both referees and players some guidance on the application of Rule 17. If referees follow these
Guidelines fairly closely, then players will know in advance what the standards are in relation to Rule
17. This is, in effect, no different from the desirability of knowing what the standards are for the
application of the rules concerning interference: a greater measure of consistency is the aim. The
achievement of such consistency will greatly benefit the sport of squash.

Referees will apply the following Guidelines in the appropriate circumstances. While the Referee under
Rule 17 retains discretion in deciding whether or not there has been an offence under that Rule, once
the Referee has decided that an offence has occurred, the following actions must be taken:

Abuse of equipment (racket or ball or other equipment):
Minor offence (e.g. throwing the racket onto to floor after losing a game, hitting the ball hard after
the rally is over): Conduct Warning
Major offence (e.g. deliberately breaking the racket; smashing the racket against the wall; hitting
the ball or throwing the racket out of the court): Conduct Stroke

Audible or Visible Obscenity:
Minor offence (e.g. muttered expletive; blaspheming): Conduct Warning
Major offence (e.g. audible obscenity): Conduct Stroke

Time-wasting
Minor offence (e.g. a few seconds late back on court; taking excessive time to serve): Conduct
Warning
Major offence (e.g. very late back on court; prolonged discussion with Referee): Conduct Stroke

Dissent:
Minor offence (e.g. questioning a decision): Conduct Warning
Major offence (e.g. prolonged or repeated questioning of or disagreement with decisions): Conduct
Stroke

Abuse of Official:
Minor offence (e.g. unflattering comments about official or decisions): Conduct Warning
Major offence (e.g. pejorative comments about official or decisions): Conduct Stroke
Severe offence (e.g. hitting ball at official or into spectators; throwing racket at official or into
spectators): Conduct Game or Match (depending on the severity of the offence and the danger
caused)

Excessive physical contact:
Minor offence (e.g. running into the opponent): Conduct warning
Major offence (e.g. physical abuse of the opponent): Conduct Stroke
Severe offence (e.g. deliberately injuring the opponent; dangerous play that injures the
opponent): Conduct Game or Match (depending on the severity of the offence and the extent
of the injury caused)

Unsporting conduct:
Minor offence (e.g. making negative comments to the opponent): Conduct Warning
Major offence (e.g. repeated negative or pejorative comments to the opponent; any attempt at
intimidation of the opponent): Conduct Stroke
Severe offence (e.g. extreme behaviour that brings the game into disrepute): Conduct Game or
Match (depending on the severity of the offence)

Coaching:
First occurrence: Conduct Warning
Second occurrence: Conduct Stroke and expulsion of offending person
Repeated and excessive bad conduct:

When, in the Referees opinion, the player is guilty of repeated acts of unacceptable conduct on
court following the imposition of the penalties outlined above, the Referee may impose for the
next occurrence of the offence either the same penalty for the second offence or a more severe
penalty than the one already imposed. However, if a Conduct Warning has been given for both the
first and the second offences, for the third offence of a similar nature a Conduct Stroke must be
applied. (Example: If a player has received a Conduct Warning for Dissent, on the next occurrence
of this offence, either a Conduct Warning or a Conduct Stroke may be imposed. On the third
occurrence, however, a Conduct Stroke is mandatory.)