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Flag football rules compared

7 rulebooks, and they disagree in 7 places. The marked rows are the ones that can make a finished playbook invalid.

AFVD

Germany: the league play of the AFVD and its state associations.

2026 edition · Translation of IFAF

IFAF

International: world and European championships, and the source most national rulebooks are translated from.

2023 edition

NFL FLAG

USA: the leagues licensed by NFL FLAG, and anywhere in the world a club holds that licence.

2025 edition

FIDAF

Italy: the league play of the FIDAF.

2024 edition · Translation of IFAF

FEFA

Spain: the competitions of the FEFA.

2023 edition · Translation of IFAF

FFFA

France: the league play of the FFFA.

2023 edition · Translation of IFAF

FMFA

Mexico: the competitions of the FMFA. The state uses the same edition.

2023 edition · Translation of IFAF

Why most of the numbers are the same

Because almost everywhere it is the same rulebook. FIDAF, FEFA and FFFA do not rewrite the rules, they translate IFAF 2023. The French document even lists the same person as author as the international one. Apart from the translators’ credit, the Spanish one does not contain the word “FEFA” a single time.

For a coach that means: if you can play by IFAF, you can play in Italy, Spain and France too. What differs is not in the rulebook but in the competition regulations.

What the federations really do differently

This is not in the rulebook but in the competition regulations. Beware of the most common mix-up: the chapter “national changes” in the rulebook is not a country chapter but a list of options IFAF offers every federation. Very few of them say which of these they actually use.

FIDAF

  • The roster may be larger than 15.
  • Patterns on shorts and logos on the flags are allowed, as long as the flags clearly contrast.
  • Flag football helmets and rugby headgear are allowed.
  • At the bowls: roster of at most 20 and at least 5, minimum age 16. In mixed teams at most 2 women are on the field at the same time.

FEFA

  • Mixed teams are allowed in the adult class as well.
  • Captains may change during a game.
  • There is no national league. The championship is the Spanish Flag Bowl; qualification runs through regional leagues.
  • What binds is not the 2023 edition but whichever IFAF edition is in force when the season starts.

FFFA

  • Adult championships are played mixed: at least two licensed players of the other gender on the field at the same time, in offence as in defence. The Coupe de France is played separately.
  • The game sheet takes at least 7 and at most 15 players.
  • In French competitions the French officiating mechanics take precedence over IFAF’s.

FMFA

  • The national tournament plays two halves of 20 minutes with a 5-minute break. IFAF provides for 2 minutes.
  • At most 15 players, 3 coaches and 1 doctor are registered; two officials work the game.
  • Only the year of birth counts, not the date.
  • From the 2026/27 school year the state and the NFL are bringing the NFL FLAG rulebook into schools. Different rules will then apply there than in federation play.
All figures for the adult class unless noted otherwise. A dash means: this rulebook has no value of its own for it.
Rule AFVD IFAF NFL FLAG FIDAF FEFA FFFA FMFA
Players per side 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Roster at most 15 15 10 15 15 15 15
Field 50 × 25 yards, end zones of 10 each 50 × 25 yards, end zones of 10 each 50 × 25 yards, end zones of 10 each 50 × 25 yards, end zones of 10 each 50 × 25 yards, end zones of 10 each 50 × 25 yards, end zones of 10 each 50 × 25 yards, end zones of 10 each
Rush only from 7 yards 7 yards 7 yards 7 yards 7 yards 7 yards 7 yards
How many may rush unlimited unlimited 2 unlimited unlimited unlimited unlimited
Blitz from close in 2 2 – 2 2 2 2
No runs before the end zone 5 yards 5 yards 5 yards 5 yards 5 yards 5 yards 5 yards
No runs before midfield does not exist does not exist 5 yards does not exist does not exist does not exist does not exist
Downs to midfield 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Downs after that 4 4 3 4 4 4 4
Time to pass 7 seconds 7 seconds 7 seconds 7 seconds 7 seconds 7 seconds 7 seconds
Quarterback may run himself no no no no no no no
Competition classes Adults, U16, U13, U10, U7 Adults, U16, U13 HS, 14U, 12U, 10U, 8U, 7U, 6U Adults, U16, U13 Adults, U16, U13 Adults, U16, U13 Adults, U17, U15, U14, U12, U10, U8, U6
Classes with no rush at all none, rushing applies everywhere none, rushing applies everywhere 8U, 7U, 6U none, rushing applies everywhere none, rushing applies everywhere none, rushing applies everywhere none, rushing applies everywhere

What of this really matters in the game

Field size is almost everywhere the same, which surprises most people: 50 by 25 yards, plus two end zones of 10 each. Anyone playing smaller does so because that is what their ground allows, not because a federation prescribes it for an age class. None of them does.

The difference that makes a finished drawing punishable rather than merely unfamiliar is the no-run zone before midfield. IFAF and AFVD do not have it, NFL FLAG does. A running play that is clean in Germany is a penalty there.

And there is a reason AFVD and IFAF agree almost everywhere: the German book is the translation. Its own foreword says the changes are editorial; even the rule numbers match. A new IFAF edition is announced for 2027, from which the two may part ways.

Where to look this up

A rule without a source is a claim, and with measurements a claim is worthless. Every number above comes from these documents.