BRITISH AMERICAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
FOOTBALL RULES
AND INTERPRETATIONS
2009 EDITION




                              © BAFA 2009









                                Foreword




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





These rules apply to all contests involving BAFA-affiliated teams and
take effect from 1st March 2009
(Exception:
leagues whose regular season began before 1st March 2009 will continue
to use 2008 rules until the end of their season).




For brevity, male pronouns are used extensively in this book, but the
rules are equally applicable to female and male participants.




BAFA has established a mechanism for discussing and deciding future
changes to this book.
Each organisation affiliated to BAFA has a voice on the Rules
Committee.
You may make suggestions for changes to your organisation's
representative(s).
Suggestions may be made at any time, but to eligible for consideration
for the following year they must be received by 1st October.




Jim Briggs, BAFRA (Editor)
on behalf of the
BAFA Rules Committee




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 email them to
rules@britishamericanfootball.org.




Thanks go to the members of the Working Party who were responsible for
the revisions to the flag and five-on-five contact rules:




Dan Bridgland
Martin Cockerill
Alan Dobson
Mark Fletcher
Campbell Lewis
Jon Tait




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




Keith Alldritt
Amir Brooks
Phil Clarke
Ian Davies
Martin Gibson
Tony Newsham
Russell Newton
Tim Ockendon
Peter Parsons
Mark Snow
Paul Sutton
Anthony Tagg









                           Table of Contents




Rules changes..........................................................4
Points of emphasis.....................................................7
The Football Code.....................................................11
BAFA Disciplinary Code................................................14
Rules and Interpretations.............................................25
Field Diagram.........................................................27
  Rule 1 -- The Game, Field, Players and Equipment....................31
  Rule 2 -- Definitions...............................................49
  Rule 3 -- Periods, Time Factors and Substitutions...................66
  Rule 4 -- Ball in Play, Dead Ball, Out of Bounds....................81
  Rule 5 -- Series of Downs, Line to Gain.............................85
  Rule 6 -- Kicks.....................................................90
  Rule 7 -- Snapping and Passing the Ball............................103
  Rule 8 -- Scoring..................................................120
  Rule 9 -- Conduct of Players and Others Subject to the Rules.......130
  Rule 10 -- Penalty Enforcement.....................................148
  Rule 11 -- The Officials: Jurisdiction and Duties..................160
  Rule 12 -- Instant replay..........................................161
  Rule 13 -- Standards for Game Management...........................169
  Rule 14 -- Football variants.......................................180
Summary of penalties.................................................198
Officials' Signals...................................................206
Appendix A: Guidelines for Game Officials to Use During a Serious On-Field Player Injury208
BAFRA Terms and Conditions...........................................209
Index of Rules and Interpretations...................................216






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Editor: Jim Briggs, BAFA/BAFRA Rules Committee


rules@britishamericanfootball.org