FOOTBALL RULES AND INTERPRETATIONS 2026 EDITION

Original material © IFAF 2011-2026 ISBN: 97 8-1-291-90105-4

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 defense;
• 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 11);
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 2026. National federations may adopt them earlier for their domestic competitions.

   Prof Jim Briggs, Editor on behalf of the IFAF Rules Committee Javier L'Episcopo on behalf of the IFAF Board

   Those who find it necessary to write to the editor for interpretations of rules or play situations will receive prompt replies if they number their questions and send them to jim.briggs@americanfootball.sport by email.

   The editor would like to thank the following people who assisted in the proofreading of this edition of the rulebook:

   Amir Brooks (Great Britain), Phil Clarke (Great Britain), Eva Cloots (Belgium), John Cooper (Great Britain), Erik De Boeck (Belgium), Frank Eissa Barroso (Great Britain), Will Fazackerley (Great Britain), Dan Harries Davies (Great Britain), Perttu Hautala (Finland), Jonathan Husband (Great Britain), Radek Janhuba (Finland), Mark Looi (Australia), Ali May (Great Britain), Gerry Mellough (Great Britain), Richard Moger (Great Britain), Dave Moore (Great Britain), Cedric Palmans (Belgium), Euan Paterson (Great Britain), Elisey Rodriguez (Portugal), Asbjorn Rohold (Denmark), Hubert Romanczyk (Poland), Mark Schofield (Great Britain), Paul Sutton (Great Britain), Begum Kubra Tokyay (Turkiye), Stephan Tuinenburg (Czechia), Liam Wooton (Great Britain),

   Cover image by Martin Pech, MartasRaw_

   Table of Contents

   Rules changes.......................................................4 Points of emphasis..................................................6 The Football Code...................................................9 Rules and Interpretations..........................................11 Rule 1 -- The Game, Field, Players and Equipment.................13 Rule 2 -- Definitions............................................29 Rule 3 -- Periods, Time Factors and Substitutions................48 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..........................96 Rule 8 -- Scoring...............................................112 Rule 9 -- Conduct of Players and Others Subject to the Rules....121 Rule 10 -- Penalty Enforcement..................................143 Rule 11 -- The Officials: Jurisdiction and Duties...............151 Rule 12 -- Instant replay.......................................152 Summary of penalties..............................................157 Officials' Signals................................................166 Appendix A -- Guidelines for Game Officials for Serious On-Field Player Injuries169 Appendix B -- Guidelines for Game Officials and Game Management To Use Regarding Lightning170 Appendix C -- Concussions.........................................172 Appendix D -- Field Diagrams......................................174 Appendix E -- Equipment: Additional Details.......................182 Rules application.................................................188 Index of Rules and Interpretations................................214

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