page_title: Canadian football
section_title: Officials and fouls
hierarchical_section_title: Canadian football / Gameplay / Officials and fouls
caption_attribution_description: English: Down marker indicating first down with the orange Line of scrimmage marker showing behind it.
context_page_description: Canadian football is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play 110 yards long and 65 yards wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area.
  In Canada, the term "football" may refer to Canadian football and American football collectively, or to either sport specifically, depending on context; outside of Canada, the term Canadian football is used exclusively to describe this sport, even in the United States. The two sports have shared origins and are closely related but have some key differences, and both sports had their modern rules developed independently from each other.
  Rugby football in Canada originated in the early 1860s, and over time, the game known as Canadian football developed. Both the Canadian Football League, the sport's top professional league, and Football Canada, the governing body for amateur play, trace their roots to 1880 and the founding of the Canadian Rugby Football Union.
  The CFL is the most popular and only major professional Canadian football league.
context_section_description: Officials are responsible for enforcing game rules and monitoring the clock. All officials carry a whistle and wear black-and-white striped shirts and black caps except for the referee, whose cap is white. Each carries a weighted orange flag that is thrown to the ground to signal that a foul has been called. An official who spots multiple fouls will throw their cap as a secondary signal. The seven officials (of a standard seven-man crew; lower levels of play up to the university level use fewer officials) on the field are each tasked with a different set of responsibilities:
  The referee is positioned behind and to the side of the offensive backs. The referee is charged with oversight and control of the game and is the authority on the score, the down number, and any rule interpretations in discussions among the other officials. The referee announces all penalties and discusses the infraction with the offending team's captain, monitors for illegal hits against the quarterback, makes requests for first-down measurements, and notifies the head coach whenever a player is ejected. The referee positions themselves to the passing arm side of the quarterback. In most games, the referee is responsible for spotting the football prior to a play from scrimmage.
  The umpire is positioned in the defensive backfield. The umpire watches play along the line of scrimmage to make sure that no more than 12 offensive players are on the field before the snap. The umpire monitors contact between offensive and defensive linemen and calls most of the holding penalties. The umpire records the number of timeouts taken and the winner of the coin toss and the game score, assists the referee in situations involving possession of the ball close to the line of scrimmage, determines whether player equipment is legal, and dries wet balls prior to the snap if a game is played in rain.
  The back judge is positioned deep in the defensive backfield, behind the umpire. The back judge ensures that the defensive team has no more than 12 players on the field and determines whether catches are legal, whether field goal or extra point attempts are good, and whether a pass interference violation occurred. The back judge is also responsible for the play clock, the time between each play, when a visible play clock is not used.
  The head linesman is positioned on one end of the line of scrimmage. The head linesman watches for any line-of-scrimmage and holding violations and assists the line judge with illegal procedure calls. The head linesman also rules on out-of-bounds calls that happen on their side of the field, oversees the chain crew and marks the forward progress of a runner when a play has been whistled dead.
  The side judge is positioned 20 yards downfield of the head linesman. The side judge mainly duplicates the functions of the field judge. On field goal and extra point attempts, the side judge is positioned lateral to the umpire.
  The line judge is positioned on the end of the line of scrimmage, opposite the head linesman. They supervise player substitutions, the line of scrimmage during punts, and game timing. The line judge notifies the referee when time has expired at the end of a quarter and notifies the head coach of the home team when five minutes remain for halftime. In the CFL, the line judge also alerts the referee when three minutes remain in the half. If the clock malfunctions or becomes inoperable, the line judge becomes the official timekeeper.
  The field judge is positioned 20 yards downfield from the line judge. The field judge monitors and controls the play clock, counts the number of defensive players on the field and watches for offensive pass interference and holding violations by offensive players. The field judge also makes decisions regarding catches, recoveries and the ball spot when a player goes out of bounds. On field goal and extra-point attempts, the field judge is stationed under the upright opposite the back judge.
  Another set of officials, the chain crew, is responsible for moving the chains. The chains, consisting of two large st
caption: A modern down indicator box is mounted on a pole and is used to mark the current line of scrimmage. The number on the marker is changed using a dial.
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