REGINA — The Canadian Football League’s rules committee is proposing changing some rules and procedures around coaches’ challenges to improve the flow of the game and improve the fan experience.

“These measures would, in some instances, speed up when a coach issues a challenge, alter what he can challenge, and ensure more video reviews occur during commercial timeouts instead of on top of them,” said Glen Johnson, senior vice-president of football for the CFL and chair of the league’s rules committee.

“Finding the right balance between using technology to help officiate the game and protecting the flow of the game is a challenge facing all sports and leagues including the CFL. We are tackling that challenge with the best possible fan experience, in stadium and on broadcast, as a top priority.”

Specifically, a coach would no longer be allowed to challenge a play following a TV commercial timeout.

If the change is approved, a coach would have to throw his challenge flag within the first 30 seconds of the TV break.

Currently, where there is a TV timeout on the field, a coach can wait the entire duration of a break before deciding to challenge, as long as he does so before the next snap. The result can be a two-minute commercial break followed by a 90 second challenge, hampering the flow of the game.

The proposed rule changes will go before the CFL Board of Governors for approval (Jimmy Jeong/CFL.ca)

The committee is also suggesting limiting the types of actions challengeable under Roughing the Passer to the pure definition of Rule 7.2.4. on page 56 of the CFL Rulebook, which applies to when a quarterback is in the act of passing or potentially passing the ball, and when the quarterback slides feet-first across the line of scrimmage.

Other unnecessary roughness penalties that may occur against the passer behind the line of scrimmage, such as grabbing the facemask or horse collar tackles, would no longer be challengeable.

As well, actions that occur when the quarterback is across the line of scrimmage running with the ball, a quarterback sneak and dead ball fouls on the quarterback would no longer be challengeable.

The committee believes this will reduce the number of challenges while still ensuring the quarterback is protected when in the act of passing or potentially passing he ball, the original intent of making roughing the passer reviewable.

It is also recommending retaining a rule change made at midseason least year, which put a timeout at risk for every coach challenge that is incorrect. The committee is also proposing that the replay official only a change a call where there is clear and indisputable evidence that it is wrong, rather than attempt to officiate plays to ensure they are correct.

Members believe these two combined measures, in place for a full season, will discourage coaches from using their challenges, especially as they put timeouts at risk. They estimate this can reduce the number of challenges by 20% or more while still allowing coaches to challenge big plays that have a material impact on the game.

Finally, TSN will go to commercial on every challenge it can. It’s estimated that 80% of challenges will now be done during a commercial, up from 20% last season. That will significantly reduce unnecessary stoppages in the game and improve the fan experience both in stadium and on broadcast.

The committee has also recommended increasing the duties of the video official in the Command Centre so they can correct errors when:

• When a flag has been thrown for a line of scrimmage penalty (offside or procedure)
• When a flag has been thrown for an unnecessary roughness penalty following a play and the video official sees other unnecessary roughness infractions
• When a call for illegal contact on a receiver should be changed to defensive pass interference because the ball had been thrown

To further promote player safety, the committee wants to change all 10-yard illegal low block penalties to 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalties. The committee recognized the importance of signaling that such dangerous blocks have no place in the game.

The committee wants to prevent the return team on a kicking play from putting a player on the field a split second prior to the snap and trying to hide him so he can receive a lateral pass from the kick returner.

This sort of “sleeper play” would be subject to a 10-yard penalty.

All rules committee recommendations must be reviewed by the league’s competition committee and ultimately approved by its Board of Governors before they go into effect.

The rules committee includes representatives from every club, the Canadian Football League Players’ Association, the Canadian Professional Football Officials’ Association and the CFL.

TORONTO – The Canadian Football League has approved a rule change on coaches’ challenges.

Effective immediately, if a team makes its first coach’s challenge of the game and does not win that challenge, the team will now lose a timeout. If the team wins its challenge, it will keep its timeout.

In other words, the first coach’s challenge is no longer a “free” one. With this change in place, teams now put a timeout at risk with their first challenge, in the same way they already do for their second challenge of the game. And teams must be in possession of a timeout to make a challenge. Teams are allowed two timeouts per game and can only use one timeout in the last three minutes of the game.

“We are listening to our fans,” said Jeffrey L. Orridge, commissioner of the CFL. “And while it’s unusual to have a rule change during the season, the league and our teams wanted to respond to fans’ concerns about the frequency of challenges.

“We are proud of the innovation we have brought to our game, including innovation in the use of replay, and the fact that these advances are being followed by other leagues. But innovation in any pursuit is often followed by adjustments and alterations. Fan enjoyment is vitally important.”

The league reviews its rules and procedures each off season, and intends to take a further look then at the issue of replay and challenges, said Glen Johnson, senior vice-president, football.

“Our leadership believes this change is a step in the right direction, as our game continues to evolve in an era of technology,” he said.

This rule change was unanimously approved Thursday by the league’s governors following a recommendation from its rules committee.

TORONTO – An additional Video Official in the Command Centre with a mandate to quickly fix obvious errors that are not challengeable by replay is one of the innovations recommended by the Canadian Football League’s Rules Committee.

“Right now in some situations, our fans have access to a better angle on a game broadcast than our officials may have at field level,” said Glen Johnson, the CFL’s Senior Vice-President, Football.

“By putting a knowledgeable official in communication with the officiating crew during the game, we would be able to quickly and seamlessly fix incorrect situations without disrupting the flow of the game.”

The video official would act as a kind of “eye in the sky”, with access to the feed from a special camera that would capture all 24 players on the field.

For example, when both the offence and defence jump into the neutral zone prior to the snap and four officials have flags, all with a slightly different perspective, the video official could look at a play in a few seconds and tell the Referee which team jumped first, speeding up the game and ensuring the right call is made.

Breaking new ground:

The Video Official would break new ground in the world of professional sports in North America. It is just one of a series of innovative rule changes proposed today by the Rules Committee., which must still be approved by the league’s Board of Governors before they can go into effect.

Two years ago, the CFL became the first league to subject judgement calls to video review, when it allowed coaches to challenge defensive pass interference.

Now, the Rules Committee is recommending that offensive pass interference, illegal contact and illegal interference on pass plays also be reviewable.

In fact, it suggests expanding the list of reviewable penalties to include: no yards, illegal blocks on kick plays, contacting/roughing the kicker or passer, and illegal interference at the point of reception on kick off attempts.

It has also proposed adding unsuccessful two-point convert attempts to the list of plays that are automatically reviewed by the Replay Official.

The committee also continues to put a clear emphasis on player safety.

It proposes prohibiting players from pushing blockers through gaps in the offensive line on single point convert attempts and field goal attempts.

It also wants to expand the definition of a “peel back” block to make it illegal for any offensive player to block an opponent low anywhere on the field when he is moving towards his own goal line, not just those players that start the play in the Close Line Play Area, commonly referred to as the tackle box.

“Peel back blocks, although infrequent, are dangerous,” said Kevin McDonald, the CFL’s Vice-President of Football Operations and Player Safety.

“In order to improve player safety, we need to include other players that commit these types of blocks and expand the area in which these types of blocks are illegal.”

League Governors gave the Rules Committee a clear mandate to work to reduce the number of penalties being called each game. It is recommending modifying the standard for Illegal Procedure to now allow line players to move slightly, point, or make signals for blocking assignments while in a three-point stance before coming to a set position for one second prior to the snap. This change and others have the potential to eliminate 2 to 3 penalties per game.

Committee proposes several administrative and technical changes:

– The concept of off-setting penalties would be created for some scenarios, such as when the defence is offside and the offence commits holding on the player who is offside, which would result in no yardage difference being applied and the down being replayed.

– No longer allowing a team that gives up a field goal in the last three minutes of a game to choose to scrimmage the ball instead of receiving a kick off.

– A player who gives an opponent’s offensive ball to a fan after a turnover is ruled on the field would no longer be flagged for objectionable conduct, which had been an unintended consequence of allowing offences to use their own footballs.

The Rules Committee includes several CFL presidents, coaches and general managers as well as representatives of the CFL, CFL Players’ Association and CFL Officials Association.

“I want to thank the entire Rules Committee for its interesting proposals and thoughtful deliberations,” said Jeffrey L. Orridge, Commissioner of the CFL.

“It has consistently demonstrated a passion for innovation and a commitment to player safety. I know the Board of Governors looks forward to considering these ideas.”

TORONTO – The Canadian Football League (CFL) and Canadian Football League Players’ Association (CFLPA) today announced that they have agreed to changes to the CFL’s draft eligibility rules and are implementing more stringent rules for individuals with anti-doping rule violations hoping to enter the League.

The CFL and the CFLPA both feel it is important to address the issue of players coming into the CFL from university programs and other leagues or sports and the consequences they face for any anti-doping rule violations they may have previously incurred.

“We are taking these important steps today to ensure that there is a level playing field for all athletes entering the CFL,” said Jeffrey L. Orridge, CFL Commissioner. “We are also hopeful that the CFLPA can continue to work with us to establish a new drug testing program for all CFL players that is meaningful and effective.”

“The CFLPA takes the total health and safety of our members very seriously and we are eager to continue progressive discussions,” said Scott Flory, CFLPA President. “A policy to prevent and deter the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs is seen as one of the critical components of the overall health and safety of players.”

The rules set out below come into effect immediately and in advance of the upcoming CFL regional and central Combines, where the CFL provides for drug testing in conjunction with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport:

• An individual who incurs an anti-doping rule violation pursuant to the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP) or who tests positive for a substance banned under the CFL drug policy in the year of his CFL Draft, or the immediate year prior to his CFL Draft, will have his Draft year deferred for one year.

• An individual who, having gone through the CFL Draft, whether drafted or undrafted, subsequently incurs an anti-doping rule violation pursuant to the CADP or who tests positive for a substance banned under the CFL drug policy, would be ineligible to sign a contract with a CFL team for one (1) calendar year after the individual tests positive or incurs an anti-doping rule violation as referenced above.

• An individual who is ineligible for the CFL Draft (i.e. Canadian Junior Football League player or International Canadian Interuniversity Sport, National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Football League player or any other athlete from another sport) and who incurs an anti-doping rule violation pursuant to the CADP or pursuant to any other drug testing program or who tests positive for a substance banned under the CFL drug policy, would be ineligible to sign a contract with a CFL team for one (1) calendar year after the individual tests positive or incurs an anti-doping rule violation as referenced above.

Regional combines are scheduled for Edmonton on March 7, Montreal on March 9, and Toronto on March 10, with the CFL Combine set for Toronto March 11 to 13. The CFL Canadian Draft is May 10.

CFL.ca Staff
#CFLKickoff

StatsGeek is a new weekly segment on CFL.ca featuring the work of league chief statistician Steve Daniel. It highlights growing trends around the league and much of the same data powering all nine CFL coaching staffs and head offices. Coaches and General Managers use Steve’s analysis on a daily basis to guide important front office and on-field decisions – analysis that frames trends and changes in the game in a purely factual and meaningful way.

The inaugural edition of StatsGeek considers the role statistics and analysis played in the CFL off-season rule changes, from the placing of the extra point attempt to modifying blocking rules on punt returns.

StatsGeek: Changing the rules

TORONTO – Have you ever wondered what goes into a rule change in professional sports?

If there’s one constant in pro sports, it may be the frequent changing and adapting of rules to make the game better. Whether to improve player safety, the quality of the game or the overall entertainment value, changing the rules is a common exercise across all sports.

Nothing changed basketball more than the implementation of a 24-second shot clock at the start of the 1954 NBA season, but 24 wasn’t merely an arbitrary number: It was carefully calculated based on the average number of shots taken each game.

Rule changes in pro sports may not always be an exact science such as with the shot clock (although some are, as you’ll soon find out), but they don’t leave much to chance. In short, rule changes are about more than just trial and error.

“What I think often happens during the process of Rules Committee is that someone brings an idea or an opinion in that isn’t necessarily based on fact – it’s a perception of a certain thing happening so many times,” said Glen Johnson, Vice-President of Officiating. “They’ll say things happen ‘a lot’.”

“What Steve does is he finds that out for us – he gets us the facts.”

The CFL’s Rules Committee made several rule changes this off-season including ones that’ll impact four key areas of the game: 1) Pace of play; 2) Punt returns and return coverage; 3) Illegal contact; and 4) The convert

Just like how the NBA implemented the shot clock, these rule changes were fueled by either black and white stats or opinion based on hard facts – and most importantly no guesswork. That’s where Steve Daniel, long-time CFL head statistician, plays a vital role.

CFL.ca Staff

TORONTO – Significant changes to the convert, passing rules and the pace of the game will be in place when the new Canadian Football League season kicks off this June.

The league’s Board of Governors approved today most of the changes proposed earlier this Spring by the CFL’s Rules Committee.

“The Board endorsed the view that this is a great time for our league to innovate,” said Michael Copeland, the CFL’s President and Chief Operating Officer.

“We’re looking forward to putting in place changes that have the potential to improve an already great game.”

The CFL is modifying the convert that follows a touchdown to make it less predictable.

A kick for a single point, which took place from the 12-yard line in past seasons, will now be kicked from the 32-yard line.

Last year, 99.4 per cent of kicks for a single point following a touchdown were successful. For field goal attempts from between 31 and 33 yards, 81 per cent were successful.

If a team opts to run or pass the ball into the end zone for a two point convert following a touchdown, the ball will be scrimmaged from the three-yard line, instead of the five-yard line, which may entice more coaches to “go for two”.

Last year, there were only 23 two-point convert attempts, and seven, or 30 per cent, were successful.

But the Governors rejected the Committee’s suggestion that the league test a more radical approach during pre-season games: a convert worth three points if a team chose to run or pass the ball over the goal line from the ten-yard-line.

To open up the passing game, the Governors approved a change designed to create more room for a passing offence.

It will allow a defensive player to contact a receiver that is in front of him within five yards of the line of scrimmage, but it will not allow either player to create or initiate contact that impedes or redirects an opponent beyond five yards.

 The Board agreed that on a punt play, when the ball bounces on the ground and a five yard no yards penalty is called, the penalty will automatically be added to the end of the return, or from the point the ball was first touched by the return team, whichever is better.

In the past, the receiving team had to choose between the five-yard penalty or the yards gained on the return.

It is believed that making the penalty more punitive could reduce the number of no yards penalties.

To increase the tempo of the game, at any time in the game the offence will now be allowed to signal to the Referee that it doesn’t want to substitute and it wants to use a tempo offence.

The officials will then blow the play in immediately upon the ball and yardsticks being set for play.

This new protocol will be combined with a rule change made last year – which meant the offence no longer had to wait for the defense to substitute before initiating a play if the offence had not substituted.

Together, the changes create an opportunity for the offence to dictate the pace of the game.

Also to improve game flow, the CFL is removing the ability of a coach to request a measurement, leaving it to the Referee to measure when he is unsure if a first down has been made or not.

On punts, a rule change will prohibit the five interior linemen on the kicking team from leaving the line of scrimmage until the ball is kicked.

This should reduce the number of illegal blocking and no yards penalties, while increasing the amount of room the receiving team has to set up a return.

There would be a ten-yard penalty for violating this new rule.

The CFL is maintaining the ability for a coach to challenge Defensive Pass Interference, an innovation introduced last year. But the Board of Governors rejected a proposal that Offensive Pass Interference also be made subject to video review.

It approved no longer giving the receiving team the option of demanding that a team kick again after one of its kick offs goes out of bounds. The receiving team will now either take the ball where it went out of bounds, or at a point 30 yards in advance of where the ball was kicked off, whichever is better.

The Canadian Football League regular season kicks off on Thursday June 25 when the Montreal Alouettes host the Ottawa REDBLACKS. On Friday, June 26, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats visit the Calgary Stampeders for a rematch of last year’s Grey Cup game. On Saturday, June 27, the Toronto Argonauts host the Edmonton Eskimos and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers travel to Saskatchewan to face the Roughriders.

The CFL pre-season kicks off Monday June 8 when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats host the Ottawa REDBLACKS.

The Rules Committee includes several CFL coaches and general managers as well as representatives of the CFL, CFL Players’ Association and CFL Officials.

The CFL Board of Governors includes owners of privately held teams, chairmen of community owned teams, and several team presidents.

CFL.ca Staff

TORONTO — The convert would be less automatic, receivers would have more space, and the game would speed up.

Those are the projected outcomes if rules changes proposed today by the Canadian Football League’s Rules Committee are approved later this Spring by its Board of Governors.

“We have sought to be innovative while protecting the integrity of the game with a focus on player safety,” said Glen Johnson, the CFL’s Vice-President of Officiating and its representative on the Rules Committee.

“We believe we are recommending to our Board of Governors responsible ways to improve the tempo and flow of the game, reduce the number of stoppages including penalties, increase opportunities for scoring and excitement, and simplify our rules.”

The Rules Committee is recommending modifying the convert that follows a touchdown.

We’re INSIDE the rules committee meetings with a full recap to come on CFL.ca. #CFL pic.twitter.com/A7T87hCsnB

— CFL Official Feed (@CFL) March 26, 2015

A kick for a single point, which now comes from the 12-yard line, would come instead from the 32-yard line.

Last year, 99.4 per cent of kicks for a single point following a touchdown were successful. For field goal attempts from between 31 and 33 yards, 81 per cent were successful.

In fact, there have only been 24 converts missed in 15 seasons, a frequency of just once in every 232 attempts or 47 games.

Under the proposal, a kicked convert that is wide would remain live and can be run back for a two-point score.

If a team opts to run or pass the ball into the end zone for a two point convert following a touchdown, the ball would be scrimmaged from the three-yard line, instead of the current five-yard line, which may entice more coaches to “go for two”.

Last year, there were only 23 two-point convert attempts, and seven, or 30 per cent, were successful.

The Governors also have the option of choosing to test a more radical approach during pre-season games: a convert worth three points when a team chooses to run or pass the ball over the goal line from the ten-yard-line.

To open up the passing game, the Rules Committee is suggesting a change designed to create more room for the offence.
It would allow a defensive player to contact a receiver that is in front of him within five yards of the line of scrimmage, but would not allow either player to create or initiate contact that impedes or redirects an opponent beyond five yards.

The Rules Committee recommends that on a punt play, when the ball bounces on the ground and a five yard no yards penalty is called, the penalty will automatically be added to the end of the return, or from the point the ball was first touched by the return team, whichever is better.

Currently, the receiving team has to choose between the five-yard penalty or the yards gained on the return.

It is believed that making the penalty more punitive may reduce the number of no yards penalties.

To increase the tempo of the game, the Rules Committee suggests that at any time in the game the offence be allowed to signal to the Referee that it doesn’t want to substitute and it wants to use a tempo offence.

The officials would then blow the play in immediately upon the ball and yardsticks being set for play.

This new protocol will be combined with a rule change made last year – which meant the offence no longer had to wait for the defense to substitute before initiating a play if the offence had not substituted.

Together, the changes create an opportunity for the offence to dictate the pace of the game.

On punts, the Rules Committee recommends prohibiting the five interior linemen on the kicking team from leaving the line of scrimmage until the ball is kicked.

This should reduce the number of illegal blocking and perhaps no yards penalties, while increasing the amount of room the receiving team has to set up a return.

There would be a ten-yard penalty for violating this proposed new rule.

Also to improve game flow, the Rules Committee wants to remove the ability of a coach to request a measurement, leaving it to the Referee to measure when he is unsure if a first down has been made or not.

The Rules Committee recommends maintaining the ability for a coach to challenge Defensive Pass Interference, an innovation introduced last year. But it goes one step further this year, suggesting that Offensive Pass Interference also be made subject to video review.
It also recommends no longer giving the receiving team the option of demanding that a team kick again after one of its kick offs goes out of bounds. The receiving team will either take the ball where it went out of bounds, or at a point 30 yards in advance of where the ball was kicked off, whichever is better.

“Our governors are charged with the special responsibility of ensuring our product is fast and exciting for our fans and we treat our great game and players with the utmost respect,” Johnson said.

“The changes we’re putting forward for their consideration represent our best advice in meeting these objectives.”

The Rules Committee includes several CFL coaches and general managers as well as representatives of the CFL, CFL Players’ Association and CFL Officials.
All of its recommendations are subject to review and approval by the CFL’s Board of Governors.

1.    True

2.    False

3.    False

4.    False

5.    True

6.    False

7.    False

8.    False

9.    False

10.   False

CFL.ca Staff

TORONTO — Ever wonder what it takes to be a CFL official? Now’s your chance to prove you have what it takes. We took 10 questions from the actual 2014 Rules Exam and want to put you to the test.

Each question is true or false. Team A = Offence. Team B = Defence.

Click below for the answers!

1. Team A attempts to punt the ball. The kick is blocked and the ball is recovered by Team A. Team A players may block an opponent below the waist.
  
2. While running with the ball, Offensive Player #32 fumbles the ball then dribbles it into Team B’s goal area to out of bounds in goal. The next line of scrimmage is the point of origin of the fumble.

3. Team A attempts to punt the ball on third down. The kick is blocked and the ball goes dead in A’s possession in their own goal. Team B have the option to take the ball at the Point of Last Scrimmage.
    
4. On a convert attempt, Team A has 13 men on the field, the convert is wide and the ball goes out of bounds. Team B may have the penalty applied on the kickoff.  
    
5. On a punt, the centre moves his head to check the position of the defensive players. One of the defensive players jumps in the neutral zone and breaks the plane. Team B will be penalized for offside.
     
6. Team A has the ball for a 2nd down and 10 at their 2 yard line, the QB is in goal with the ball and Offensive Player #60 holds a defender in goal who was about to tackle the QB. A safety touch will awarded.
 
7. Team A has a trick play, they have an end on each side of the field, five ineligible receivers inside and the ball will be snapped by Offensive Player #80 who is just between the end on one side and the tackle on the line of scrimmage. This is a legal play.

8. Team A with 3rd down and 15, punts the ball just across the line of scrimmage. The kicker recovers his own kick and he is tackled immediately. Since Team A did not gain the necessary yardage, it will be Team B’s ball where the ball became dead.
   
9. Team A punts the ball, while the ball is in the air, Team B is penalized for holding near the line of scrimmage, the 10 yard penalty if accepted will be applied at Point of Last Scrimmage with the down repeated.
   
10. On a pass play, players from opposing teams are running side by side when the foot of the defensive player inadvertently tripped the offensive player. Team B will be penalised for pass interference, penalty is loss of 10 yards, automatic first down.

CFL.ca Staff

TORONTO — The Canadian Football League is considering making pass interference subject to video review as part of a significant review of its rule book, the league revealed today.

Under a proposal to be voted on Thursday evening by the league’s Rules Committee, coaches would be allowed to challenge both called and potential defensive pass interference fouls under certain conditions.

If it passes, the CFL could become the first football league to subject pass interference to video review.

“This is more than innovative. In the world of officiating, for all sports, it’s revolutionary,” said Glen Johnson, the CFL’s Vice-President of Officiating.

The Great Debate
Should pass interference be subject to video review? Click here to have your say.

“Leagues have been reluctant to subject ‘judgment calls’ to video review, and pass interference in football is the ultimate ‘judgment call”, because it involves so many subjective elements. It will be interesting to see if the Committee approves it, and whether our Board of Governors, which is our ultimate authority on rules, also ratifies it.”

Under the proposal, a team would be able use any and all of its Coaches’ Challenges to challenge a called or potential pass interference foul up to the final three minutes of a game. In the final three minutes of a game, and overtime, a team could only challenge such a call or non-call one time, and only if it still has an unused challenge and a timeout remaining.

The Committee is also considering expanding the role of the Command Centre by requiring it to automatically review all turnovers (fumbles lost and interceptions) and allowing it to detect illegal participation during a play (when a player returns to the field after voluntarily leaving it).

The Rules Committee is also reviewing several changes aimed at further strengthening the health and safety of CFL players:

•    Eliminating low blocks below the waist, other than those delivered to the front plane of a player.
•    Eliminating blocks from behind in the area between the offensive tackles and within two yards of either side of the line of scrimmage.
•    Outlawing peel back blocks, which occur when a play changes direction in the backfield, forcing the defender to modify his  pursuit, making him susceptible to blind low blocks executed by an offensive player moving toward his own end zone.
•    Clarifying the rules make it illegal to “deliver a blow” to an opponent above the shoulders, a standard already followed by officials but not yet codified in the rule book.
•    Requiring an injured player to leave the field regardless of whether a penalty was called on the action leading to the injury (players currently have the option to stay in the game if a penalty was called on the play.)

The Committee is considering other changes designed to promote scoring and improve the flow of the game:

•    Allowing quarterbacks for each team to use their own team supplied Wilson footballs, provided they have met the “new ball” quality standard established by the league.
•    Allowing centres to bob their heads multiple times in an effort to signal timing of the snap of the ball (to be used by visiting teams coping with noise in stadium).
•    Allowing offenses to further dictate the pace of play by no longer requiring the Head Referee to hold the 20 second clock for the defense to substitute.

The CFL Rules Committee is also expected to review proposed editorial changes to statistical scoring rules including one which would make blocked field goals count as missed field goals for the purpose of record keeping.