November 30, 2012 by Charlie Eisenhood in News with 6 comments
Today, the World Flying Disc Federation announced rule changes that will take effect on January 1st. According to their press release, “a number of changes have been made which are aimed at producing a better flow of play, fairer outcomes, a closer alignment with the [USA Ultimate] rules, as well as enabling self-refereed play to work as effectively as possible.”
That last goal — making self-refereeing work as effectively as possible — is increasingly important in international play. As WFDF continues to resist adding observers or any other third-party arbitrators, they have looked for ways to make calls easier. The major update on this front was the addition of a rule that enables non-players (spectators, sideline players, etc.) to be called upon to “assist players to make the appropriate call for ‘down’ calls and line calls.” This appears to be a workaround for the challenge of making such calls without an observer.
Other major rule changes include allowing a play to stand if both teams agree that a foul, call, or violation did not affect the play; allowing a player to retain possession if, after a turnover, they intentionally drop the disc or place it on the ground; and allowing players to check the disc in after an “unnecessary delay” or a stoppage.
WFDF released a full list of changes (pdf) and the entire rulebook with tracked changes (pdf).
