Ahead of the 2026 season, BAFA has confirmed updates to its rules and regulations.
The BAFA Rules Committee has announced the contact football rule changes that will be brought into play on 1 March (except for the remainder of the BUCS season). The BAFA changes also reflect changes made by IFAF and NCAA.
Injury timeout
In the USA and elsewhere, there has been an increase in the number of instances of players feigning injury to gain an advantage for their team. While there has been a rule prohibiting this for a few years, it is obviously difficult for the officials to judge whether an injury is real or fake.
A rule change that takes away a team’s incentive to feign injury takes the difficult decisions out of the officials’ hands. Now, if a player presents as injured AFTER the ball is spotted for the next play, that will cost their team a charged timeout. This rule applies to both teams and applies at any time during the game.
Officials have been instructed to take care to try and spot injuries early and, for example, if one official spots the injured player before the ball is spotted but the timeout is only granted after, then that should not mean the timeout is charged to the team.
Defensive formations and disconcerting signals
We have been tightening up the rules about defensive formations and the signals that both teams can use (e.g. to shift formation).
The words “move” and “stem” are reserved for the defense to use, so the offense could be penalised if they use them. Conversely, a clap is reserved for the offense, so the defense could be penalised if one of their players claps their hands.
The rules have been clarified to emphasise that defensive linemen (players within one yard of the line of scrimmage) can’t make quick or abrupt actions in order to try to make the offense false start. That would result in a 5-yard penalty on the defense.
Scrimmage kick formations
There have been two changes relating to scrimmage kick formations.
The definition of a scrimmage kick formation has changed so that it is no longer a SKF if there is a player anywhere between the snapper and the kicker/holder. Previously this was only the case if there was a player immediately behind the snapper to take a hand-to-hand snap.
Secondly, a change to the rule means that the snapper loses their special protection if they are lined up at the end of the offensive line (sometimes called the “swinging gate” formation). It was realised that in such a case, Team A effectively had a receiver who could not be covered on the line nor contacted immediately after the snap, because those are the protections the snapper normally has in a SKF. So, the change means those protections no longer apply to the snapper when they are on the end of the line.
Helmets
There are two new restrictions on helmets.
Firstly, “youth” helmets are now completely prohibited. Youth football is variously defined as u-19, u-17 or u-15 so it would seem logical that “youth” helmets could be used in those age groups. But in fact, when helmet manufacturers talk about youth football, they are typically talking about 7-11 year olds. For all competitive levels in Great Britain, players should be wearing “adult” helmets.
Secondly, we are addressing the age of helmets. Most helmets are designed for a maximum life (typically 10 years). In 2027, it will become illegal to wear a helmet beyond 10 years. This year, we very strongly recommend they are not used.
Game management
If the down box is not capable of displaying all four downs or the length of the chain does not match the distance between 10 yard lines, then the game will be suspended until they are fixed, or abandoned if they can’t.
For the first time, washing and toilet facilities for both teams and the officials have gone from being “desirable” to “mandatory”. Some BAFA competitions have given themselves the right to fine teams that don’t comply.
From 2028, for safety reasons, coaches who are asked to officiate games that BAFRA cannot cover will need to have an additional coach officiating certificate in addition to their coaching Level 1 qualification. BAFRA and BAFCA will work together over the next 2 years to define and deliver this certificate.
Other changes
- A T-signal (outstretched arms horizontally) given during a kick is now regarded as an invalid fair catch signal.
- Roughing the passer protections about contact to the head or forcibly driving the player into the ground now also apply before the pass is thrown. The requirement is that the offensive player must be in a “passing posture”, i.e. looking like they are ready to throw a pass.
- Unsportsmanlike conduct joins offensive holding, illegal use of hands and personal fouls as fouls penalised from the previous spot if the foul occurs behind the neutral zone.
- If the defense is penalised for having more than 11 players on the field after the two-minute warning, the offense will have the option of resetting the game clock back to the time of the snap. This counters any misuse of substitution as a time-wasting tactic. The rule only applies if 12 or more players participated in the play – the clock option doesn’t apply if the 12th player was merely exiting the field.
- Should a game go into a third extra period, each team will only have one timeout which has to last them for the remainder of the game. Previously a team had one timeout per period. There will no longer be a mandatory break after the fourth extra period.
Dr Jim Briggs, Chair of both the BAFA Rules Committee and the IFAF Rules Committee said, “Each year we make improvements to the rules to make the game safer for all participants, and to encourage better sportsmanship. In addition, we are looking to gently raise standards in important areas such as fields and uniforms. We aim to bring greater clarity to players, coaches and officials about what is safe and fair.”
There are a number of other minor rule changes. The full list is available here in PDF format. Note that the rulebook on the BAFA rules website has been updated with these changes.
BAFA regulations changes
A few changes to the BAFA Regulations have been made.
The BAFA Regulations set out BAFA’ s expectations for the conduct of its members (both individuals and organisations).
They are deliberately couched as a set of principles rather than specific fixed procedures. The expectation is that regulatory committees that implement them will apply common sense and good judgement, and that above all else the spirit of the sport will be upheld at all times.
All participants in the sport, but especially coaches, players and officials, should expect to show appropriate levels of respect towards each other. Those participating in a situation that is physically confrontational by the nature of the sport should play.
The full 2026 BAFA Regulations can be found here. Updates take effect from 1 March 2026, with key items listed below:
- Various additions required by UK Anti-Doping. This including clarification of UKAD jurisdiction over breaches of their rules.
- It is now a breach of the Code of Conduct to allow unregistered people access to the sideline, to conceal evidence or to use the Regulations for vexatious reasons. Clubs may also breach the code by registering participants incorrectly.
- Clubs are responsible for ensuring appropriate behaviour by specators and must not allow music with offensive or derogatory language to be used. If requested, clubs must stop the use of artificial noise makers.
- Emphasis that teams are responsible for failures to meet game management standards. Clubs are also responsible for ensuring that illegal coaching does not take place.
- New definition of “Spectator” and updated definition of “game official”.
- Statement added that all BAFA registrants are deemed to have made themselves familiar with and agreed to be bound by various BAFA documents.
- Clarify that references to a “Playing Rule” refer to the contact playing rules except where small-sided football or flag football have their own variants.
- Guidance on how to supply evidence for disciplinary cases is now provided.
- The Grievance Procedure has been removed from the Regulations and replaced by a separate Complaints Policy.
- Disciplinary appointments are now made under the authority of the CEO rather than the Board.
- The Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2021 may apply if all parties are located in Scotland.
- Various minor improvements to wording to make things clearer.
Important links
- Full list of 11-on-11 rules changes for 2026
- Full 2026 rulebook (PDF and HTML versions)
- BAFA rules website