The CFL is making changes to its replay command centre in response to multiple controversial moments during the first half of the season, the league announced Thursday.
In a statement, the league said the goal of the changes is “to improve performance and to ensure the clear and obvious principle is more consistently applied in its decision-making process.”
The statement goes on to say, “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 come under scrutiny for some of its decisions this season in The Winnipeg Free Press, The Regina Leader-Post and 3 Down Nation.
According to these three publications, the calls included missed fumbles, close out-of-bounds reviews and a pass interference decision that extended a game after the on-field officials had declared it over. In multiple cases, the decision by the review centre changed the outcome of the game in the final seconds.
“The things we’ve seen come up over the last couple weeks bring some of those specific points to the top of the conversation in the off-season,” Blue Bombers linebacker Adam Bighill, a member of the CFL’s rules committee, told The Free Press. “It’ll be a conversation, no doubt about it, but it’s all in an effort to make the game as perfect as you can and eliminate as much error as possible, and figuring out what you are capable of and not capable of.”
Earlier this month, the CFL issued a memo to coaches and general managers indicating it was reviewing the command centre’s role. Thursday’s announcement is the result of that review.
The CFL’s press release listed multiple changes will be implemented for the remainder of the season, including:
• 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 intervene only 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.
• Continuing 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.
The league added that it will undertake a larger review of the command centre in the off-season.