INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF AMERICAN FOOTBALL FOOTBALL RULES AND INTERPRETATIONS 2022 EDITION

Original material © IFAF 2011-2022

Foreword

The rules are revised each year by IFAF to improve the sport's level of safety and quality of play, and to clarify the meaning and intent of rules where needed. The principles that govern all rule changes are that they must:

• be safe for the participants;
• be applicable at all levels of the sport;
• be coachable;
• be administrable by the officials;
• maintain a balance between offense and defence;
• be interesting 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 14);

4. national federations may restrict the above so that the same regulations apply to all competitions under their jurisdiction.

These rules apply to all IFAF organised competitions and take effect from 1st March 2022. National federations may adopt them earlier for their domestic competitions.

Table of Contents

Rules changes..........................................................4 Points of emphasis.....................................................7 The Football Code.....................................................11 Rules and Interpretations.............................................14 Rule 1 -- The Game, Field, Players and Equipment....................16 Rule 2 -- Definitions...............................................31 Rule 3 -- Periods, Time Factors and Substitutions...................51 Rule 4 -- Ball in Play, Dead Ball, Out of Bounds....................72 Rule 5 -- Series of Downs, Line to Gain.............................78 Rule 6 -- Kicks.....................................................82 Rule 7 -- Snapping and Passing the Ball.............................97 Rule 8 -- Scoring..................................................114 Rule 9 -- Conduct of Players and Others Subject to the Rules.......124 Rule 10 -- Penalty Enforcement.....................................147 Rule 11 -- The Officials: Jurisdiction and Duties..................156 Rule 12 -- Video judge.............................................157 Summary of penalties.................................................161 Officials' Signals...................................................170 Appendix A -- Guidelines for Game Officials for Serious On-Field Player Injuries173 Appendix B -- Guidelines for Game Officials and Game Management To Use Regarding Lightning174 Appendix C -- Concussions............................................176 Appendix D -- Field Diagrams.........................................178 Appendix E -- Equipment: Additional Details..........................185 Index of Rules and Interpretations...................................192

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