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:
IFAF statutes require all member federations to play by IFAF rules, except in the following regards:
These rules apply to all IFAF organised competitions and take effect from 1st March 2018. National federations may adopt them earlier for their domestic competitions.
For brevity, male pronouns are used extensively in this book, but the rules are equally applicable to female and male participants.
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.............................92 Rule 8 -- Scoring..................................................108 Rule 9 -- Conduct of Players and Others Subject to the Rules.......117 Rule 10 -- Penalty Enforcement.....................................138 Rule 11 -- The Officials: Jurisdiction and Duties..................147 Rule 12 -- Video judge.............................................148 Summary of penalties.................................................152 Officials' Signals...................................................161 Appendix A -- Guidelines for Game Officials to Use During a Serious On-Field Player Injury164 Appendix B -- Guidelines for Game Officials and Game Management To Use Regarding Lightning165 Appendix C -- Concussions............................................168 Appendix D -- Field Diagrams.........................................170 Appendix E -- Equipment: Additional Details..........................176 Index of Rules and Interpretations...................................181
Editor: Jim Briggs, BAFA/BAFRA Rules Committee
rules@bafra.org