A blood rule is a rule used in many

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

that generally states that an athlete that receives an open wound, is

bleeding Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethr ...

, or who has

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

on them or their clothes, must immediately leave the playing area to receive medical attention. Though they may be able to play again later, they cannot continue until the wound is taken care of, bleeding has stopped, and all contaminated

equipment Equipment most commonly refers to a set of tool A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by ...

has been replaced. The main concern addressed by these rules is the spread of

infectious diseases infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

. Some sports where this is used are

Australian Rules Football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

, NCAA Baseball, and some major American sports leagues. In the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

, for example, play stops whilst the player's medical staff attends to the wound. If the bleeding is not stopped to the referee's satisfaction, the player must then leave the field for further attention. In sports such as

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, a player may leave the field without being substituted immediately, his team playing short-handed until he re-enters play, is replaced, or the match ends (if the injury cannot be satisfactorily healed and the team is out of substitutions).

References

{{Reflist Health and sports Sports rules and regulations Blood Rule

See also

References