Arena Football One Statement on Officiating

It has been an exciting first half of the Arena Football season. Over the course of the past seven weeks, we have seen exciting games, new talents emerging, and rivalries renewed on and off the field. Throughout all of this, we have worked to improve the on-field product. Saturday night, during the Southwest Kansas Storm vs Corpus Christi Tritons game, there were officiating inconsistencies that took away from a hotly contested game between two rising teams.

At the conclusion of the game, Southwest Kansas was called for offensive holding as time expired. Southwest Kansas was awarded a play on an untimed down that they scored on, however, this is contrary to Rule 2.15. 

RULE 2.15

If there is a foul by the Offense, there shall be no extension of time. If such a foul occurs on the last play of the half, and there was a score, the score shall be canceled by rule, and the half is over.

“Having an exciting game like this ending with an officiating miscommunication is frustrating,” said Commissioner Jeff Fisher. “We are taking this situation and working to prevent any situations like this from happening in the future. I have the utmost confidence that Gary Compton and Jason Copogna have a plan moving forward to maintain open communication with gameday officials.”

Moving forward, the off-field official at each game will open a line of communication with Director of Football Operations Gary Compton and Interim Supervisor of Officials Jason Copogna during the final minute of play to provide real-time support. Additionally, that line of communication will be able to be activated quickly for rule interpretations and support.

“I am incredibly excited to step into this role as the Interim Supervisor of Officials,” said Copogna. “We are building something for the long term in Arena Football, and professional and reliable officiating is critical to that.”

Copogna steps into the Interim Supervisor of Officials role after multiple seasons of officiating Arena Football. His experience in leading a crew and knowledge of the arena game has him well-prepared for this role. He has been refereeing Arena Football since 2018 and has worked multiple fifty-yard game Championships as well. Additionally, he has been an official in multiple collegiate conferences, including the Ivy and Patriot, since 2007. 

Copogna has actively been working to improve communications between local officiating crews and the league office to eliminate inconsistencies and elevate the on-field product.