Fan's Guide to CFL Video Review and Challenges 2026

Yes. Under the 2026 Official Playing Rules, these game administration items are reviewed automatically without pausing the game and without starting a review of all standard reviewable aspects:

• the spotting of the ball
• issues with the game clock or play clock
• penalty applications
• when an offside or procedural penalty is called, to determine whether it should be applied to the offence, the defence or both

Spots: the replay staff can adjust the spot of the ball if the change can be made instantaneously while reviewing live video. A spot is adjusted only if it is clearly off by 2 yards or more, or a line to gain has clearly been met or not. The replay official also automatically provides a spot when a passer gives themself up by sliding or is sacked behind the line of scrimmage. Spots can also be challenged by a coach.

Officials' assistance: on-field officials can ask the replay officials for help when a ruling is in question or two officials disagree, for example on whether a player is in the legal low block zone, whether a catch was made, whether a formation is legal, or whether a roughing the passer or kicker penalty occurred.

Integrity step-in: the replay official may step in to correct an egregiously wrong judgment when an out of bounds player or spot was incorrectly ruled, when it is unclear whether a forward pass touched the ground, or when a team had an illegal formation. This cannot be used to call other penalties, and the game is not paused.

Under the 2026 Official Playing Rules, the replay staff automatically review called penalties (except the coach-challengeable DPI, OPI, BLDF and IBR) to make sure the proper judgment was made on the field. The focus is on penalty types with specific landmarks that can be reviewed without significant delay and without insight from the field officials. They are:

• offside
• face mask
• horse collar tackle
• low blocks
• late hits at the sideline (whether contact was initiated in bounds)
• no yards
• illegal contact (whether the quarterback still had the ball when the penalty occurred)
• roughing the passer (whether the defender was clearly thrown into contact)

These reviews do not initiate a review of all standard reviewable aspects and do not pause the game.

Other automatic checks: a flagged player conduct foul triggers a Replay Centre review, which can pick up a flag, penalize additional players, modify a penalty and recommend ejections. If the injury spotter removes a player for assessment, the replay staff may review the play and enforce a missed major foul that contributed to the situation.

The last three minutes of the game have a special focus for the Replay Centre. Under the 2026 Official Playing Rules:

• Every play is viewed as an auto-review situation. If the replay staff see an issue with a standard reviewable aspect, they pause the game and review the play.
• The aim is to fix clear errors with standard reviewable aspects while limiting delays reviewing decisions that were either initially correct on the field or are unclear on the available angles.
• All automatically reviewed aspects in the last three minutes are coach challengeable. If a coach has an issue with a ruling and the following play has been whistled in, it is up to the coach to challenge the play, because the whistle is how the league communicates that the game is moving on.
• If the game needs to be paused, the average delay is less than a minute for the decision, plus time for broadcast synchronization and communication. Many simple rulings can be reviewed and communicated to the officials without stopping the game.

Coaches challenge a ruling by throwing a challenge flag. The 2026 Official Playing Rules list these coach challengeable aspects:

• the full list of standard reviewable aspects (scores, possession, touching of the ball, ball spots and down with contact, administrative rulings such as the clock, onside on kicked balls, forward or backward passes, passes touched or completed behind the line of scrimmage, plus the penalty-related items in that list)
• whether a no-yards infraction took place
• whether an offensive or defensive pass interference infraction took place
• whether a penalty for blocking downfield by an eligible receiver took place
• whether a called illegal block on a kick play took place
• whether an infraction for roughing the passer or roughing the kicker took place (for replay, roughing the passer includes any act of unnecessary roughness committed on a designated quarterback behind the line of scrimmage)
• whether the quarterback was tripped behind the line of scrimmage

Number of challenges: each team has 1 challenge. If it is successful, the team keeps it to use later in the game. A challenge is successful if any ruling made on the field is deemed incorrect and changed with favourable results to the team that challenged.

Cost: in regulation time a team needs a timeout to challenge, and an unsuccessful challenge costs the team a timeout. In overtime a team does not need a timeout to challenge, and an unsuccessful challenge does not cost one.

Offensive and defensive pass interference (OPI and DPI) are coach challengeable. Under the 2026 Official Playing Rules:

• The Replay Centre automatically reviews called penalties except certain coach-challengeable ones: DPI, OPI, BLDF (blocking downfield by an eligible receiver) and IBR (illegal block on a kick play). A coach must throw the challenge flag to have these reviewed.
• When a coach challenges, the play is reviewed in its entirety and is subject to all reviewable aspects, other than coach-challengeable penalties unless specifically challenged (DPI, OPI, BLDF, IBR).
• In the last three minutes of the game, every play is treated as an auto-review situation for the standard reviewable aspects, but all automatically reviewed aspects in that period are coach challengeable, so a coach who disagrees with a ruling must challenge before the next play is whistled in.
• The challenge asks whether or not an OPI or DPI infraction took place. A challenge is successful if the ruling on the field is deemed incorrect and changed with favourable results to the challenging team.
• The replay official applies the "clear and obvious" standard: if the outcome is not obvious, the on-field ruling stands.

What counts as pass interference itself is set out in Rule 6, Section 4, Article 11: contact that creates separation, redirects, restricts or impedes an opponent in a visually evident way that materially affects the opponent's opportunity to play the ball, or screening (face guarding), is pass interference. No interference is called on an uncatchable pass or once an eligible receiver has touched the ball.

The 2026 Official Playing Rules list these standard reviewable situations:

• whether a score was made or not
• possession of the ball (fumbles and catches)
• touching of the ball
• ball spots and down with contact
• administrative rulings such as the clock
• whether players are onside with respect to a kicked ball
• whether a pass travels forward or backward
• whether a pass was touched or completed behind the line of scrimmage

Also reviewable, because they may lead to a penalty:

• a major foul that directly caused a turnover
• illegal interference on a kickoff
• an illegal forward pass (passer across the line of scrimmage, or two forward passes on the same play)
• illegal participation, when a player goes out of bounds on their own and returns to participate directly in the play
• illegal substitution (sleeper play)
• punt out of bounds in flight, if a kick from scrimmage goes directly out of bounds between the 15-yard lines
• no yards, in relation to a review of first touching or onside or offside players (not a judgment of whether a player was inside or outside the five-yard halo)

The 2026 Official Playing Rules list these limits of replay:

• If a down with contact is ruled on the field and the play is killed by the whistle, and replays show the play should have been a fumble, the ball is awarded to the other team only if there is a clear recovery.
• If a play is killed by the whistle for forward progress stopped, out of bounds, or down with contact incorrectly, further advancement is not awarded by replay, except where a whistle did not affect player participation.
• Outside of coach-challengeable penalties when challenged, player conduct fouls after the play, fouls considered after an injury spotter removal, and penalties that result from changes to standard reviewable actions, replay staff cannot call fouls that were not called on the field.
• Camera angles are not calibrated with field markings, so decisions based on inches cannot accurately be made with video; the clear and obvious process is used instead.
• Forward progress stopped is a judgment best made on the field in real time and is adjusted only in extreme scenarios.

Because the whistle tells everyone the game is moving on, officials are instructed to blow it only when they are certain a play has concluded.

Under the 2026 Official Playing Rules, if a coach challenges outside the parameters of replay:

• No challenge left: if the coach challenges when the team does not have a challenge and the game is stopped as a result, a delay of game penalty is assessed.
• No timeout: if the coach challenges when the team does not have a timeout and the game is stopped as a result, a delay of game penalty is assessed.
• Not challengeable: if the coach challenges an aspect that is not challengeable, the coach is given one opportunity to challenge something within the rules, or loses the challenge and the timeout.

Separately, a coach may strategically use a timeout to give the Replay Centre extra time to review angles on any automatically reviewable trigger. The Replay Centre will not review unreviewable scenarios or give information to a coach if it is unrelated to a challenge.

Under the 2026 Official Playing Rules, once the Replay Centre determines the proper outcome, it adjusts the clock if the clock should have stopped had the play been ruled correctly on the field. If the field ruling left the ball live and the Replay Centre decides the play should have ended with the clock stopped at an earlier time, the clock is adjusted to that time.

Before three-minute timing, if a changed ruling means the clock would have been running at the end of the play anyway, the Replay Centre makes no clock adjustment.

Examples from the rule book:

• A Team B interception is ruled and the player advances the ball, but review shows the player was down with contact before advancing. The clock is reset to the time of the down with contact.
• A touchdown is ruled at 4:55, but review shows the ball carrier stepped out of bounds at 4:59. The ball is spotted where the carrier went out of bounds and the clock is reset to 4:59.
• A completed catch at 5:00 is followed by a long gain, but review rules it an incomplete pass. The clock is reset to 5:00.

If a spot is changed after the sticks have been moved or the play has been whistled in, the officials stop the clock, notify both teams and permit substitutions.