What can the Replay Centre not fix?

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.