Moving the goalposts
[2][3] The figurative use alludes to the perceived unfairness in changing the goal one is trying to achieve after the process one is engaged in (such as a game of football) has already started.[citation needed] Inadvertently moving the goalposts in a touchdown celebration is an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of 15 yards against the offending team.If the goalposts are deliberately moved to stop an opponent from scoring, the opponent may be granted a penalty shot; if the goaltender does so, the goaltender may be ejected from the game, a rule imposed at most levels of the game in 2014 after David Leggio deliberately moved the goalposts during a two-person breakaway, believing he would have a better chance of stopping a penalty shot.[13] In 2009, Danish goalkeeper Kim Christensen was recorded on camera moving the goalposts in order to gain advantage over the opposing team.[14][15] In May 2022, a scandal erupted when video published by Aftenposten showed Viking FK's goalkeeper Patrik Gunnarsson reducing his goal size by moving the goalposts by 15–20 centimetres (6–8 in), after the referee inspection but prior to kickoff, in home games during the 2022 season.
metaphorfootballhockeygoalpostsinformal fallacyharassmentworkplace bullyinghumiliationKarl PopperConjectures and Refutationsfalsifiabilityscientific theoriesprofessional foulrugby footballunfair actgridiron footballcarte blanchetouchdown celebrationunsportsmanlike conductice hockeypenalty shotDavid LeggioDeutsche Eishockey Ligaawards the goalNational Hockey LeagueKim ChristensenAftenpostenViking FKPatrik GunnarssonAmbit claimBait-and-switchCreeping normalityDestabilisationGod of the gapsMind gamesMotte-and-bailey fallacyNirvana fallacyNo true ScotsmanOverton windowSpecial pleadingSetting up to failSlippery slopeTexas sharpshooter fallacyMerriam-Webster.com DictionaryThe New York TimesCBS SportsfallaciesFormalpropositional logicAffirming a disjunctAffirming the consequentDenying the antecedentArgument from fallacyMasked manMathematical fallacyquantificational logicExistentialIllicit conversionProof by exampleQuantifier shiftSyllogistic fallacyAffirmative conclusion from a negative premiseNegative conclusion from affirmative premisesExclusive premisesNecessityFour termsIllicit majorIllicit minorUndistributed middleInformalEquivocationFalse equivalenceFalse attributionQuoting out of contextLoki's WagerReificationCircular reasoningBegging the questionLoaded languageLeading questionCompound questionLoaded questionComplex questionCorrelative-basedFalse dilemmaPerfect solutionDenying the correlativeSuppressed correlativeIllicit transferenceCompositionDivisionEcologicalSecundum quidAccidentConverse accidentFaulty generalizationAnecdotal evidenceSampling biasCherry pickingMcNamaraBase rateConjunctionDouble countingFalse analogySlothful inductionOverwhelming exceptionAmbiguityAccentFalse precisionSorites paradoxSyntactic ambiguityQuestionable causeAnimisticFurtiveCum hocPost hocGambler'sInverseRegressionSingle causeTexas sharpshooterLaw/LegalityProof by assertionConsequencesArgumentum ad baculumWishful thinking