International American Football Officials Association

Welcome to myiafoa.org - the home page of IAFOA

Quick links to PDFs
Latest IFAF tackle rules	Latest IAFOA tackle mechanics	Latest IFAF flag rules	Latest flag mechanics

Latest
27th January 2026	Statement on new rules and mechanics issued by Jim Briggs and David Parsons.
15th January 2026	The new IAFOA Manual of Football Officiating (MOFO) has now been published. The 20th edition is once again the most comprehensive book ever written on the mechanics of football officiating. There is new material on R and C positioning and what deep officials should do after the snap, plus hundreds of major and minor improvements to the mechanics we use. There is a special focus on communications, particularly to resolve doubt about the outcome of a play. All this and more! In the PDF version, revised text is marked in blue and major changes are marked by a box. In the HTML version, changed text has a beige background. The PDF version can be downloaded from here, the HTML version is available here. Printed copies of the MOFO are available here..
2nd January 2026	The Italian translation of the IFAF Flag rulebook is now available.
30th December 2025	The 2026 IFAF tackle rulebook has now been published. See the PDF and HTML versions. The official summary list of rule changes is available here (in PDF format). Printed copies of the rulebook are available here.
16th March 2025	A supplement to the IFAF tackle rules relating to helmet covers is now available.
16th October 2024	Jim's jotting on intentional fouls.
5th September 2023	The Portuguese (Brazil) translation of the IFAF Flag rulebook is now available.
23rd April 2023	The German and Russian translations of the IFAF Flag rulebook are now available.
19th April 2023	The Spanish translation of the IFAF Flag rulebook is now available.
14th April 2023	The 2023 IFAF Flag rulebook has now been published. Download it as a PDF here.
18th May 2021	A new flag mechanics quick start guide is now available.
2nd May 2021	The new 4th (2021) edition of the flag mechanics manual is now available.
15th January 2016	IAFOA is open for membership. We welcome anyone who is an American football official. We want the next generation of officials, whether they want to work international games or not, to have access to the best possible training and leadership from those officials who currently do work international games. Sign up for free by registering on our Forum. Then contribute to the many discussions that take place there. IMPORTANT: Your username on the forum must display your full real name and your profile must show your country of residence - if not your registration will be declined.