Dzieci pytają, dlaczego była kara, skoro zawodnik nikogo nie dotknął.

It can mean both.

In Polish, the present tense usually does not distinguish between:

• they ask
• they are asking

So Dzieci pytają can mean either, depending on context.

Dzieci is the nominative plural form of dziecko meaning child.

This is an irregular noun:

• singular: dziecko
• plural: dzieci

Here it is the subject of the sentence, so nominative is needed:

• Dzieci pytają = The children ask / are asking

Because the whole sentence is a statement, not a direct question.

The main clause is:

• Dzieci pytają... = The children ask / are asking...

What follows, dlaczego była kara, is an indirect question:

• why there was a penalty

Polish, like English, normally uses a full stop here, not a question mark, because the speaker is not directly asking the question.

Because kara is a feminine singular noun, and the past-tense verb agrees with it.

• kara = feminine singular
• była = past tense, feminine singular of być

So była kara literally means something like:

• there was a penalty
• or more literally, a penalty was

Polish often allows this kind of word order, especially when introducing or referring to an event.

Polish word order is much more flexible than English word order.

Both are possible, but they may sound slightly different in emphasis.

• była kara sounds natural when introducing the fact that a penalty happened
• kara była can sound more contrastive or more focused on kara

In this sentence, dlaczego była kara is the most natural order.

Here skoro means something like:

• since
• if
• considering that
• when

In this sentence it introduces a contrast in logic:

• why was there a penalty, if/since the player did not touch anyone?

So skoro often suggests:

• given that this is true, how can the other thing also be true?

It can sound slightly argumentative or reasoning-based.

Because it agrees with zawodnik, which is a masculine singular noun.

In the Polish past tense, the verb shows gender and number:

• dotknął = masculine singular
• dotknęła = feminine singular
• dotknęło = neuter singular
• dotknęli / dotknęły = plural

So:

• zawodnik ... nie dotknął = the player did not touch

Because nikogo is the correct form for no one / nobody as an object here.

A few things are happening:

1. nikt is the basic dictionary form, but it is used as a subject:

   • Nikt nie przyszedł = Nobody came

2. Here the word is the object of dotknąć, so a different case is needed.

3. The verb dotknąć normally takes the genitive:

   • dotknąć kogo? czego?
   • so: nikogo = genitive form of nikt

So:

• nikogo nie dotknął = he did not touch anyone / he touched nobody

This is an aspect question.

• dotknąć = perfective
• dotykać = imperfective

Here dotknął is used because the sentence refers to a complete event:

• whether the player touched someone or not at all

So nie dotknął means:

• he did not make contact
• he did not touch anyone even once

If you used nie dotykał, it would suggest something more ongoing, repeated, or descriptive:

• he was not touching
• he used not to touch

That would sound less natural in this context.

Because Polish normally separates subordinate clauses with commas.

Here the sentence contains:

1. the main clause:
   • Dzieci pytają
2. a subordinate clause introduced by dlaczego
   • dlaczego była kara
3. another subordinate clause introduced by skoro
   • skoro zawodnik nikogo nie dotknął

So the commas help mark the structure clearly:

• Dzieci pytają, dlaczego była kara, skoro zawodnik nikogo nie dotknął.

This is very typical Polish punctuation.