International Federation of American Football Football Rules and Interpretations
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INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF AMERICAN FOOTBALL FOOTBALL RULES AND INTERPRETATIONS 2019 EDITION 2019.2.4 Foreword The rules are revised each year by IFAF to improve the sport’slev elofsafety and quality of play,and to clarify the meaning and intent of rules where needed. The principles that govern all rule changes are that theymust: •besafe for the participants; •beapplicable at all levels of the sport; •becoachable; •beadministrable by the officials; •maintain a balance between offense and defence; •beinteresting to spectators; •not have a prohibitive economic impact; and •retain some affinity with the rules adopted by NCAA in the USA. IFAF statutes require all member federations to play by IFAF rules, except in the following regards: 1. national federations may adapt Rule 1 to meet local needs and circumstances, provided no adaption reduces the safety of the players or other participants; 2. competitions may adjust the rules according to (a) the age group of the participants and (b) the gender of the participants; 3. competition authorities have the right to amend certain specific rules (listed on page 13); 4. national federations may restrict the above sothat the same regulations apply to all competitions under their jurisdiction. These rules apply to all IFAF organised competitions and takeeffect from 1st March 2019. National federations may adopt them earlier for their domestic competitions. Forbrevity,male pronouns are used extensively in this book, but the rules are equally applicable to female and male participants. 2 TableofContents Rules changes...........................................................................................................................................................4 Points of emphasis ...................................................................................................................................................7 The Football Code..................................................................................................................................................10 Rules and Interpretations .......................................................................................................................................13 Rule 1 — The Game, Field, Players and Equipment.........................................................................................15 Rule 2 — Definitions .........................................................................................................................................29 Rule 3 — Periods, Time Factors and Substitutions ...........................................................................................48 Rule 4 — Ball in Play,Dead Ball, Out of Bounds.............................................................................................68 Rule 5 — Series of Downs, Line to Gain ..........................................................................................................74 Rule 6 — Kicks..................................................................................................................................................78 Rule 7 — Snapping and Passing the Ball ..........................................................................................................93 Rule 8 — Scoring.............................................................................................................................................110 Rule 9 — Conduct of Players and Others Subject to the Rules.......................................................................119 Rule 10 — Penalty Enforcement .....................................................................................................................141 Rule 11 — The Officials: Jurisdiction and Duties...........................................................................................150 Rule 12 — Video judge....................................................................................................................................151 Summary of penalties ..........................................................................................................................................155 Officials’ Signals..................................................................................................................................................164 Appendix A — Guidelines for Game Officials for Serious On-Field Player Injuries.........................................167 Appendix B — Guidelines for Game Officials and Game Management ToUse Regarding Lightning..............168 Appendix C — Concussions................................................................................................................................170 Appendix D — Field Diagrams ...........................................................................................................................172 Appendix E — Equipment: Additional Details ...................................................................................................178 IndexofRules and Interpretations.......................................................................................................................183 3 Rules chang es Major chang es The list belowshows rule number,description of the change, and page number in this book. Major changes are marked by a box likethis. Newormodified text is marked in blue (greywhen printed in monochrome). 1-2-1-g-3 Field/decorative markings and advertising rules adjusted 16 1-4-7-m Equipment modification cannot reduce safety of anyparticipant 26 1-4-11-c Exception 5 Team video from team area cannot be used for public 28 1-4-12-a Competition may have policyonheadsets 28 2-11-3 Definition of batting includes head 34 2-25-9 End of kick on inadvertent whistle 41 2-27-6-d Definition of teammate 43 3-2-4-c-7 40-second clock used after a free kick 53 3-2-4-c-8 40-second clock used after a touchdown 53 3-4-3 Unfair clock tactics changes 62 4-1-2-b-3 Exception 3 End of kick on inadvertent whistle 68 8-3-2-a Exception 1 Team scoring as time expires may forego try 112 9-1-6-a Revisions to blocking belowthe waist 122 9-1-7-c Spot of foul for blocks out of bounds 124 9-1-11-b Leaping redefined 126 9-2-1 Penalty All flagrant offenders disqualified 129 9-2-2-d Confusing an opponent that the snap is not imminent 132 9-2-2-e Confusing an opponent by simulating injury 132 10-2-5-d Field goal penalty enforcement aligned to try enforcement 147 12-2-2-c Reviewcan consider anyaspect of a play once game is stopped 152 12-3-4-c-3 Timing adjustments due to replay: 10-second runoff 154 12-3-4-c-4 Timing adjustments due to replay: end of quarter 154 NewApproved Rulings A.R. 3-2-4:III A.R. 3-2-4:IV A.R. 4-1-3:IV A.R. 4-2-3:I A.R. 6-1-2:VIII A.R. 6-5-1:III A.R. 6-5-3:VI A.R. 9-2-3:II A.R. 9-2-3:III A.R. 10-2-5:VII A.R. 12-2-2:I 4 Rules changes 5 Editorial chang es The following list shows those rules that have been subject to editorial change, i.e. deletions, corrected errors, clarifications due to interpretation and items rewritten for readability.The list also includes those ApprovedRulings altered to conform with rule changes. Newor modified text is marked in blue (greywhen printed in monochrome). 1-2-1-g-2 1-4-4-d 1-4-5-a-2 1-4-12 2-8-1-c 2-19-2-a 2-19-2-b A.R. 2-19-2:I 3-1-3-h A.R. 3-1-3:XII A.R. 3-2-4:I A.R. 3-2-4:II 3-3-2 3-3-2-d-8 3-3-2-g-1 3-3-2-g-2 3-3-5-a-1 3-3-7-a A.R. 3-4-3:VI A.R. 4-1-2:III A.R. 4-1-3:V A.R. 4-1-3:IX 4-2-3-a 6-1-2-a 6-1-2-b-3 6-1-2 Penalty 6-1-7 6-5-1-b A.R. 6-5-1:I 7-1-1-c 8-3-2-c 8-6-2 9-1-3 Penalty 9-1-4 Penalty A.R. 9-1-6:I A.R. 9-1-6:IV A.R. 9-1-6:V A.R. 9-1-6:VII A.R. 9-1-6:VIII A.R. 9-1-6:XI 9-1-8-b 9-1-9 9-1-16 A.R. 9-1-16:VII 9-2-6-d A.R. 9-2-6:I A.R. 10-1-4:II A.R. 10-2-2:XVI A.R. 10-2-5:X Summar y of differences between NCAA and IFAF rules NCAA Rule IFAF difference 1-2-5-f Procedure for dealing with missing goals. 1-4-11 × Drones prohibited. 2-11-3 Definition of batting includes the head. 2-16-10-a Punter needs only be 7 yards deep; kicker/holder need only be 5 yards deep to count as a scrimmage kick formation. 2-27-12 Whether a disqualified player is suspended for the next game is matter for the disciplinary authority. 3-1-1 Pre-game warmups not subject to the rules. During coin toss, teams must remain in the team area. 3-2-4 Play clock reset only if it drops below20seconds before ball ready. 3-2-5 No minimum time for a play after spiking. 3-3-2 Running clock. 3-3-7 No short timeouts. 3-3-8 Tw o-minute warning cannot happen before 2’00. 4-1-2-b Ball may belong to recovering team after inadvertent whistle. Ball may belong to Team B after inadvertent whistle on scrimmage kick. 4-1-3 Ball is dead if players in vicinity believe itis. 6-1-7-b/8-6-2 All touchbacks are from the 20-yard line. 6-5-1 Free kick fair catch does not result in a touchback. 7-2-5 Fumble/backward pass at rest awarded according to forward fumble principles. 9-1-3&4/9-5-1 No half-game suspensions. 9-1-6-a Larger area for unrestricted blocking belowthe waist. 9-1-7-c Spot of foul for blocking out of bounds is spot on nearest sideline. 9-2-2 Additional unfair tactics. Tw o players in same position can wear the same number. 9-2-2-e No disqualification for illegalcleats. 9-2-7 Referee may require persons to be removedfrom the playing enclosure. 6 Rules changes NCAA Rule IFAF difference 9-6 Flagrant unsportsmanlikeconduct fouls can be reviewed for additional sanctions. 12 Video judge rule. This list ignores differences that address field limitations, NCAA competition structures (e.g. conferences) or equipment restrictions.