COMMAND CENTRE OPERATIONS REFOCUS ON CLEAR AND OBVIOUS PRINCIPLE
Changes come into effect for second half of season
TORONTO (August 22, 2024) – The Canadian Football League (CFL) will recalibrate Command Centre operations in the second half of the season to improve performance and to ensure the Clear and Obvious principle is more consistently applied in its decision-making process.
The clear and obvious principle is defined as having a clear, unobstructed view of the action in question, and the correct outcome is obvious when compared to an established standard created by the rules committee and the CFL officiating department.
The Command Centre has implemented the following measures in consultation with each team’s President, General Manager, and Head Coach to increase consistency and elevate performance.
- On coaches' challenges and automatic reviews, Replay Officials will have a renewed focus on employing the Clear and Obvious principle in its decision-making.
- The Command Centre will only intervene if there is clear evidence that officials have made an obvious error on the field and a correction can occur without causing significant delay.
- The roster of replay officials has been reduced to increase consistency.
- Enhanced evaluations have been implemented for Replay Officials to guide better learning and ensure consistency and accountability.
- Continue to focus on assisting on-field officials by providing integral support on difficult aspects of the game to administer without the requirement to stop the game.
Command Centre operations will undergo a comprehensive review as part of the standard offseason agenda.
Lucas Barrett