RULE NO. 2: Officials & their Duties

Section I – The Officials

Section II – Officials' Calls

Section III – Players and Officials

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Section I – The Officials

1. The Head Referee
   1. Tournament officials must appoint a head referee for each game.
   2. The head referee has the authority to enforce the rules and take disciplinary action from the moment they enter the player area until they leave the player area after the final whistle.
   3. The head referee may stop play at any time in order to enforce rules or otherwise facilitate safe and fair gameplay.
   4. The head referee is the only official who may directly issue penalty cards.
      1. Other officials may advise the head referee to issue penalty cards.
   5. The head referee may replace any official with an appropriate replacement if the official is injured or, in the opinion of the head referee, needs to be dismissed.
   6. The head referee may be replaced at the discretion of the tournament director if, and only if, the head referee has demonstrated gross violation of their responsibilities or is too injured to continue officiating.
      1. The replacement referee must review the scorecard prior to resuming the game.
   7. All other officials must defer to the authority of the head referee.
2. Appointing Additional Officials
   The head referee or tournament officials must appoint at least two assistant referees, a runner referee, a scorekeeper, and a flag runner and may appoint other officials (up to two additional assistant referees, a timekeeper, and two goal judges) for each game.
   1. The runner referee may act as an assistant referee until the flag runner is released onto the pitch if there are less than four other assistant referees appointed for the game.
   2. The runner referee must be appointed in addition to the two required assistant referees.
3. Officiating with a minimum crew
   It is highly recommended that two goal judges and a timekeeper are appointed for each game.
   1. If a separate timekeeper is not appointed, the scorekeeper assumes the responsibilities of the timekeeper.
   2. If goal judges are not appointed, the head referee assumes the responsibilities of the goal judges.
4. Assistant referees
   1. The primary focuses of the assistant referees, subject to the discretion of the head referee, are:
      1. Calling whether players are subject to the knockout effect.
      2. Watching plays away from the quadball.
      3. Watching for balls and players going out of bounds.
5. Runner Referee
   1. The primary focuses of the runner referee, subject to the discretion of the head referee, are:
      1. Watching plays around the flag runner including knockouts and potential catches.
      2. Ruling whether the flag runner is down and counting the three second head start.
   2. The runner referee must not provide any additional advice or warnings to the flag runner during the game to help them avoid being caught, including but not limited to the locations, substitutions, and tactics of the seekers.
   3. The runner referee may stop play only if they believe that a flag catch may have been successful.
6. Goal judges
   1. The primary focuses of the goal judges, subject to the discretion of the head referee, are:
      1. Watching shots taken toward the goals.
      2. Ruling whether the quadball is out of bounds on their endline.
7. Scorekeeper
   1. The primary focuses of the scorekeeper are:
      1. Keeping track of the game’s score.
      2. Updating the game’s scoreboard.
      3. Recording the player number and reason for all penalty cards.
      4. Announcing the score at regular intervals and upon request.
8. Timekeeper
   1. The primary focuses of the timekeeper are:
      1. Keeping track of game time.
      2. Keeping track of penalty time and releasing players from the penalty box after their penalty time is served.
      3. Acknowledging the seekers and flag runner when they report to the scorekeeper’s table and releasing them onto the pitch at the appropriate time.
      4. Watching for seeker false starts.
   2. The game clock does not need to be displayed in a way that is visible to the players on the pitch. However, if the game clock is displayed it must:
      1. Be directly and solely controlled by the timekeeper.
         1. If there are multiple displays on the field, the displays must be controlled by a single set of con- trols such that the displays cannot fail to match.
      2. Be clearly and fairly visible to both teams.
      3. Be the official clock.
         1. No displayed game clock may ever be unofficial.
         2. If a displayed game clock malfunctions or otherwise ceases to be the official clock, it must be turned off unless and until it is corrected and becomes the official clock again.
9. The Flag Runner
   1. The flag runner is an official and may advise the other officials on any call.
   2. The flag runner may only make direct calls on the following:
      1. Knockouts, including dismounts, around the flag runner.
      2. Illegal contact committed against the flag runner.
      3. Down calls when their clothing is askew and needs to be adjusted.
   3. If the flag runner and another official disagree on a direct call, the flag runner must defer to the other official while play is live.

Section II – Officials' Calls

1. Referee’s discretion
   In cases where intent or severity are relevant to a call, the referee retains full discretion in judging that se- verity or intent.
2. Basis of calls
   Calls made by any official must be made only based on their observations and those of the other officials appointed for the game.
3. Adjusting calls during a stoppage
   The head referee may freely change calls made during a stoppage before resuming play.
   1. Once the head referee blows the three whistles indicating the end of the period, goal and flag catch calls for that period become final and must not be adjusted.
4. Adjusting a goal call
   The head referee may adjust a goal or no-goal call at any time prior to the formerly defending team having possession of the quadball outside of the keeper zone and a subsequent significant interaction or play by the player with possession of the quadball.

Section III – Players and Officials

1. Interactions with officials
   1. Players and team staff must abide by the decisions and directives of the head referee and all other officials.
   2. Players and team staff must not show disrespect to any official including persistently questioning the decisions of the officials.

   Blue or Yellow Card - Direspecting an official

   Yellow Card - Disregarding an official's directive

2. Using referee commands
   Players and team staff may not use verbal or visual referee signals or commands.

   Blue Card - Illegally using verbal or visual referee signals or commands