To suspect “foul play” is to suspect that something bad has happened. This traditionally means the literal or moral breaking of rules within aspects of society such as business and sports. It is also used when a criminal activity is suspected to have occurred, such as in murder. Foul play is a 16th-century idiom and non-literal phrase of unknown provenance that was first recorded in William Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labours Lost” in 1588.

When reporting crimes, police in English-speaking nations, such as America and Britain, will report to the press that they suspect “foul play.” This means it is possible that the person was murdered, that someone burnt the house down on purpose or that a machine was tampered with. Suspicious deaths are usually investigated thoroughly and sent to a pathologist for autopsy.

Financial foul play can take a number of forms. Before it is proved, any wrong doing is just suspected, because a definite statement of belief can lead to a lawsuit. In sports there are two types of foul play. The first time, to use soccer analogies, is in-game and the other is off-the-pitch.

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From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English foul play ˌfoul ˈplay noun uncountable 1 SCC if the police think someone’s death was caused by foul play, they think that person was murdered The police said they had no reason to suspect foul play.