Umpire
An official who adjudicates play and rules on facts such as dismissals, calls, or the score in sports including cricket, tennis, and baseball.
Definition
An umpire is a match official responsible for judging events as they happen and applying the rules to them. Depending on the sport an umpire calls the score, rules a player out, judges whether a delivery is legal, and signals decisions with recognised gestures. Umpires often work in a team, with duties divided across positions on the field or court.
Because different sports assign the title differently, an umpire's authority is not universal. In cricket two on-field umpires adjudicate dismissals and no-balls; in tennis the chair umpire controls a single match and announces the score; and in baseball a crew of umpires calls balls, strikes, and outs. In some sports the umpire is the senior official, while in others, such as football, that role belongs to the referee.
Meaning by sport
This term is used differently across sports:
- Cricket
- One of two on-field officials who judge dismissals, no-balls, and wides and signal boundaries, supported by a third umpire off the field.
- Tennis
- The chair umpire who controls a single match, calls the score, and can overrule line calls.
- Baseball
- A member of the officiating crew who calls balls, strikes, outs, and fair or foul balls.
- Badminton
- The official in charge of the match and court who calls faults and announces the score.
Where you’ll hear “umpire”
Sports that use this term:
Cricket
A bat-and-ball team sport where sides take turns to bat and to bowl and field, scoring runs.
Tennis
A singles or doubles racquet sport that blends agility, strategy and stamina on court.
Baseball
A bat-and-ball team sport where two sides alternate between batting and fielding to score runs.
Badminton
A fast indoor racquet sport played with a shuttlecock that rewards agility and touch.
Table Tennis
A fast, low-impact indoor racquet sport that sharpens reflexes and is easy to start.
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Commonly confused with
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Officiating
- UmpireA match official who rules on lines, serves and dismissals in racket, bat-and-ball and net sports such as tennis, cricket and baseball — and, in racket sports, also keeps the running score.
- Line JudgeA boundary-line official who calls whether the ball or player is in or out and flags foot faults, working under the head referee across many sports.
- RefereeThe primary on-field official who enforces the rules, controls play, penalises fouls, awards restarts, and blows the whistle to start and stop a match.
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How this page is maintained
- Content type
- Term
- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
- Verified external sources
- 0
- Content updated
- 2026-09-01
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