Arena Football Rules
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Revised 2/2017 Arena Football Rules GENERAL INFORMATION 1. All participants must meet the eligibility requirements listed in the Intramural Sports Policies and Procedures handbook. Each player must be an FIU student or current FIU Faculty/Staff with a Wellness and Recreation Center membership. All expired memberships must be updated before the individual may play in any game. Participants must have their Panther ID at every game. Any games in which an ineligible player signs in will be considered a forfeit. 2. All intramural participants must personally sign the Waiver Release and are responsible for their own medical expenses. 3. Teams are responsible for keeping their players and spectators under control. Misconduct of players, coaches, managers or spectators can result in penalty, ejection or forfeiture of the game. Spectators must also remain within the area designated by the IM Sports staff. 4. Alcoholic beverages, smoking, and pets are prohibited from all intramural contests. 5. IM Sports Officials/Supervisors will have absolute authority during the contest and can make decisions on any matter or question not specifically covered in the rules. RULE 1. COURT AND EQUIPMENT SECTION 1. BALL ART. 1…Teams may use their own football, as long as both team captains agree on the ball, or footballs provided by FIU IM Sports. ART. 2…Men’s games shall use a regular sized football. ART. 3…Co-Rec games may use a junior or youth, or a regular sized football. SECTION 2. BALL SPOTTERS ART. 1…Two ball spotters will be used to mark the scrimmage lines. Orange will designate the offensive scrimmage line and yellow the defensive scrimmage line. ART. 2…There will always be a 1 yard neutral zone between the spotters. SECTION 3. COURT MARKINGS ART. 1…The boundaries of the basketball court that runs North to South shall be the boundaries of the arena football court. Only one game of arena football will run at a time. ART. 2…The end zone shall be designated by the black basketball court lines and the white goal line. SECTION 4. TEAM AREA/SPECTATORS RULE 2. PLAYERS, SUBSTITUTES, AND EQUIPMENT SECTION 1. TEAM, CAPTAIN ART. 1…Each team consists of four (4) players, one of whom is the captain. NOTE: A team must have three (3) players present and signed in with the supervisor at game time in order to begin the game and avoid a forfeit. If, at the scheduled game time, a team does not have three (3) players, the captain of the opposing team will have two choices. The captain may choose to either take the win or allow for a 10-minute grace period to be granted in an attempt to ensure that the game is played. The 10-minute grace period will be deducted from actual game time. During this grace period, the team with the minimum number of players present will be awarded 6 points for each minute or portion of the minute of the grace period that elapses. If, at the end of the grace period, the team still does not have the minimum number of players, then the game will be declared a forfeit. Timeouts may not be used during the 10-minute grace period. ART. 2…The captain is the representative of his/her team and may address an official on matters of interpretation or to obtain essential information, if it is done in a courteous manner. ART. 3…If a player is bleeding, he/she will be removed from the contest immediately. If a player has blood on his/her clothing, he/she will be removed from the contest upon detection. The blood may or may not be his/her own blood. Even a player who has someone else’s blood on their clothing will be removed from the contest. The player is ineligible to re-enter the contest until the contaminated clothing has been removed. Before any player re-enters the contest, all bleeding must be stopped and any open wound or laceration covered. ART. 4…Any player who exhibits signs, symptoms, or behaviors consistent with a concussion shall be immediately removed from the game and shall not return to play until cleared by an appropriate healthcare professional. SECTION 2. ROSTERS ART. 1…Roster size is limited to 20 players. Players be added to the roster throughout the regular season. Rosters will be frozen upon completion of a team’s first playoff game. NOTE: All players must show a valid, physical Panther ID to participate. SECTION 3. UNIFORMS Team jerseys must: a. Include the team member’s number. b. Be the same color for all team members. NOTE 1: No two team members may wear the same number. NOTE 2: Teams may check out jerseys from IM Sports. SECTION 4. TEAM MEMBERS’ EQUIPMENT, APPAREL The referee shall not permit any team member to wear equipment or apparel which, in his/her judgment, is dangerous or confusing to other players or is not appropriate. ART. 1…Illegal guards, casts, or braces. a. A guard, cast, or brace made of hard and unyielding leather, plaster, pliable (soft) plastic, metal or any other hard substance may not be worn on the elbow, hand, finger, wrist, or forearm; even though covered with soft padding. b. Knee and ankle braces are permitted but all exposed hinges must be covered. Most over sleeves recommended by manufacturers are acceptable. These braces may be padded or unpadded. ART. 2…A headband no wider than 2 inches and made of nonabrasive cloth, elastic, fiber, soft leather or rubber may be worn. Rubber/cloth (elastic) bands may be used to control hair. Headwear with a bill or knot are illegal. ART. 3…Equipment which is unnatural and designed to increase a player’s height or reach or to gain an advantage. Equipment shall not be modified from its’ original manufactured state and shall be worn in the manner the manufacturer intended it to be worn. ART. 4…Jewelry shall not be worn. Medical-alert medals are not considered jewelry. A medical-alert medal must be taped and visible. ART. 5…All players must wear close-toed sneakers. No cleats are allowed. ART. 6…Players may wear soft, pliable gloves. ART. 7…Players may carry a playbook inside their clothing, as long as it is not made of an unyielding material and is not visible. If a playbook is taken on the field, it must be kept by a player. Players may also wear a soft, pliable wrist/forearm band that contains plays. ART. 8…Players may wear a face shield molded to the face with no protrusions to protect against a facial injury. SECTION 5. SUBSTITUTIONS ART. 1…Players are allowed unlimited substitutions only during dead ball periods. ART. 2…If a team begins the game with three (3) players, a late arriving player may substitute into the game during the next dead ball period. RULE 3. TIMING, COIN TOSS, AND OVERTIME SECTION 1. TIMING ART. 1…Games will consist of two (2), twelve (12) minute halves. ART. 2…Halftime shall be no longer than two (2) minutes. ART. 3…The clock will run continuously for the first eleven (11) minutes of the 1st and 2nd half unless stopped by a team or officials’ timeout. At the first dead ball at or inside one (1) minute before the end of the 1st and 2nd half, the Referee shall stop the clock and administer the One Minute Warning. The clock will restart on the next snap. ART. 4…During the last one (1) minute of the 1st and 2nd half the clock will stop for: a. Incomplete forward pass – starts on the snap b. Complete forward pass – starts on the snap c. Scoring play – starts on snap d. Team timeout – starts on snap e. Officials’ timeout – starts on Referee’s ready for play f. Change of possession – starts on snap g. Team attempting to conserve time illegally – starts on the ready h. Team attempting to consume time illegally – starts on snaps i. Inadvertent whistle – starts on the ready ART. 5…A half must be extended by an untimed down if during the last timed down there was a foul that is accepted other than unsportsmanlike fouls. A half must also be extended if during the last timed down there was a double foul, an inadvertent whistle, or a penalty enforcement which results in a safety. ART. 6…Each team is entitled to two (2), sixty (60) second timeouts for the game. ART. 7…If the clock is stopped for an injured player, then that player must be replaced for 1 down. SECTION 2. DELAYS ART. 1…The ball must be put into play no more than twenty-five (25) seconds after the Ready- for-Play signal has been given. ART. 2…A team may not put the ball in play until it is declared ready-for-play. SECTION 3. COIN TOSS ART. 1…Before the start of the game, the Referee will conduct a captain’s meeting during which a coin toss will be done. The captain winning the toss shall have the choice of: a. choosing offense or defense b. choosing which goal to defend c. choosing to defer selection to the second half ART. 2…The captain not having the first choice of options for a half shall exercise the remaining option(s). RULE 4: BALL IN PLAY, DEAD BALL, OUT OF BOUNDS ART. 1…A dead ball becomes live when it is legally snapped. SECTION 1…BALL DECLARED DEAD ART. 1…A live ball becomes dead: a. When it touches the floor. b. When it goes out-of-bounds.