Meaning of play the man and not the ball | Babel Free

Definitions

1. To attack an opponent instead of attacking the ball, which is usually being controlled by the attacked player at the time.
2. To object to someone's argument by attacking them or a facet of their personality instead of the argument itself; to make an ad hominem attack.
   broadly, colloquial, idiomatic

Examples

“""What we are seeing is an orchestrated campaign from the Labor Party to try to play the man and not the ball," he said... "[And] this is the kind of personal attack that we are going to see from the Labor Party right up until polling day.""”

“"“Claims that the words meant anything other than the “ultimate solution” to any political question is always a popular vote are simply ridiculous,” Anning said... “As I called for a plebiscite on the immigration mix, this baseless and ridiculous criticism is simply an effort to play the man and not the ball”."”

CEFR level