Tapping up

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In professional team sports, tapping up (British English) or tampering (American English) is an attempt to persuade a player contracted to one team to transfer to another team, without the knowledge or permission of the player's current team. This kind of approach is often made through the player's agent.

Often, to forestall the appearance of any palpable evidence of unethical behavior such transactions are informally negotiated while the player is still under contract, only being announced once the player's contract expires and/or the period where such transfers are officially permitted has commenced. While not criminal conduct, tampering expressly forbidden by many professional leagues in their collective bargaining agreements, bylaws and/or other rules and regulations. Incidents of tampering, when detected, can result in fines and/or sporting-related penalties being enforced against the offending teams, players, agents and/or other facilitating parties.^[1]