Emergencies, Unfair Acts#

Section 1 — Emergencies#

Article 1 — Non-Player on Field#

If any non-player, including photographers, reporters, employees, police or spectators, enters the field of play or end zones, and in the judgment of an official said party or parties interfere with the play, the Referee, after consulting the crew (13-1-7 and 19-1-3), shall enforce any such penalty or score as the interference warrants.

Article 2 — Field Control#

If spectators enter the field and/or interfere with the progress of the game in such a manner that in the opinion of the Referee the game cannot continue, the Referee shall declare timeout. In such a case, the Referee shall record the number of the down, distance to be gained, and the position of the ball on the field. The Referee shall also secure from the Field Judge the playing time remaining and record it. The Referee shall then order the home club through its management to have the field cleared, and when it is cleared and order restored and the safety of the spectators, players and officials is assured to the satisfaction of the Referee, the game must continue even if it is necessary to use lights.

Article 3 — Game Called#

If the game must be called due to a state or municipal law, or by darkness if no lights are available, an immediate report shall be made to the League by the home club, visiting club, officials and Game Observer. On receipt of all reports, the League shall make a decision which will be final.

Article 4 — Emergency Situations#

The League affirms the position that in most circumstances all regular season and postseason games should be played to their conclusion. If, in the opinion of appropriate League authorities, it is impossible to begin or continue a game due to an emergency, or a game is deemed to be imminently threatened by any such emergency (e.g., severely inclement weather, lightning, flooding, power failure), the following procedures (Articles 5 through 11) will serve as guidelines for the League and/or the duly appointed representatives. The League has the authority to review the circumstances of each emergency and to adjust the following procedures in whatever manner the League deems appropriate. If, in the League’s opinion, it is reasonable to project that the resumption of an interrupted game would not change its ultimate result or adversely affect any other inter-team competitive issue, the League is empowered to terminate the game.

Article 5 — League Authority#

The League employees vested with the authority to define emergencies under these procedures are the League, designated representatives from the League office staff, especially the Game Observer, and the game Referee. In those instances where neither the League nor the designated representative is in attendance at a game, the Referee will have sole authority; provided, however, that if the Referee delays the beginning of or interrupts a game for a significant period of time due to an emergency, the Referee must make every effort to contact the League or the League’s designated representative for consultation. In all cases of significant delay, the League authorities will consult with the management of the participating clubs and will attempt to obtain appropriate information from outside sources, if applicable (e.g., weather bureau, police).

Article 6 — Later Date#

If, because of an emergency, a regular season or postseason game is not started at its scheduled time and cannot be played at any later time that same day, the game nevertheless must be played on a subsequent date to be determined by the League.

Article 7 — Pre-Game Threat#

If there is deemed to be a threat of an emergency that may occur during the playing of a game (e.g., an incoming tropical storm), the starting time of such game will not be moved to an earlier time unless there is clearly sufficient time to make an orderly change.

Article 8 — Interrupted Game#

If, under emergency circumstances, an interrupted regular season or postseason game cannot be completed on the same day, such game will be rescheduled by the League and resumed at that point.

Article 9 — Alternate Dates, Sites#

In instances under these emergency procedures which require the League to reschedule a regular season game, the League will make every effort to set the game for no later than two days after its originally scheduled date, and will attempt to schedule the game at its original site. If unable to do so, the League will schedule it at the nearest available facility. If it is impossible to schedule the game within two days after its original date, the League will attempt to schedule it on the Tuesday of the next calendar week in which the two involved clubs play other clubs (or each other). Further, the League will keep in mind the potential for competitive inequities if one or both of the involved clubs has already been scheduled for a game following the Tuesday of that week.

Article 10 — Postseason Interruption#

If an emergency interrupts a postseason game and such game cannot be resumed on that same date, the League will make every effort to arrange for its completion as soon as possible. If unable to schedule the game at the same site, the League will select an appropriate alternate site. The League will terminate the game short of completion only, if in the League’s judgment, the continuation of the game would not be normally expected to alter the ultimate result.

Article 11 — Game Resumption#

In all instances where a game is resumed after interruption, either on the same date or a subsequent date, the resumption will begin at the point at which the game was interrupted. At the time of interruption, the Referee will call timeout and will make a record of the following: the team possessing the ball, direction in which its offense was headed, position of the ball on the field, down, distance, period, time remaining in the period, and any other pertinent information required for an efficient and equitable resumption of play.

Section 2 — Extraordinarily Unfair Acts#

Article 1 — League Authority#

The League has the sole authority to investigate and take appropriate disciplinary and/or corrective measures if any club action, non-participant interference, or calamity occurs in an AFLE game which the League deems so extraordinarily unfair or outside the accepted tactics encountered in professional football that such action has a major effect on the result of the game.

Article 2 — No Club Protests#

The authority and measures provided for in this entire Section 2 do not constitute a protest mechanism for AFLE clubs to avail themselves of in the event a dispute arises over the result of a game. The investigation called for in this Section 2 will be conducted solely on the League’s initiative to review an act or occurrence that the League deems so extraordinary or unfair that the result of the game in question would be inequitable to one of the participating teams. The League will not apply authority in cases of complaints by clubs concerning judgmental errors or routine errors of omission by game officials. Games involving such complaints will continue to stand as completed.

Article 3 — Penalties for Unfair Acts#

The League’s powers under this Section 2 include the imposition of monetary fines and draft-choice forfeitures, suspension of persons involved in unfair acts, and, if appropriate, the reversal of a game’s result or the rescheduling of a game, either from the beginning or from the point at which the extraordinary act occurred. In the event of rescheduling a game, the League will be guided by the procedures specified in Rule 17, Section 1 , Articles 5 through 11, above. In all cases, the League will conduct a full investigation, including the opportunity for hearings, use of game video, and any other procedure the League deems appropriate.