Ringers

Ringers is a term that describes several related concepts in English. In sports and competitive games, a ringer is a participant who competes under false pretenses or who is recruited from outside the usual group to substitute for a legitimate participant, usually with greater skill. The aim is to gain an unfair advantage, and the practice is prohibited by the rules of most organized competitions. Ringing may involve using a false identity, an ineligible player, or a person registered under different credentials. Penalties for employing ringers can include disqualification, forfeiture of results, fines, or suspensions.

In informal contests and some regional leagues, ringers are sometimes used to boost a team’s perceived strength or to deceive opponents about who is actually competing. The phenomenon can undermine fair play and erode trust in the event's outcomes.

In telecommunications, a ringer is the audible alert that signals an incoming call. Historically, the term referred to the mechanical bell inside telephones; in modern devices the ringer is electronic and can be a tone or melody. The word has broadened to describe any device or function that produces a ringing sound or notification.

In broader usage, ringer can describe a person who appears to be a regular participant but acts as a decoy or stand-in in other contexts, such as performances, publicity stunts, or staged events. This sense emphasizes deception or misrepresentation rather than formal eligibility concerns.