The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved a revised proposal from the Football Rules Committee that includes a coach’s challenge component for the use of video replay in football.

Each team will be allowed one challenge opportunity per game, provided the team requesting the challenge has a timeout available. If the challenge is successful, the timeout will be retained, but that will be the only challenge opportunity in the game for that team. If the challenge is not successful, a timeout will be charged.

“This revised proposal achieves the intended result of the rules committee to incorporate a challenge into the video replay system,” said John Cochrane, commissioner of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and chair of the panel.

The panel reviewed the proposal at its March meeting but tabled the idea until it could be more thoroughly vetted within the football community.

In another football-related action, panel members revised their recommendation with regard to the length of halftime, saying that the interval should be 20 minutes unless the competing institutions mutually agree to shorten or lengthen the period. The Football Rules Committee had previously asked that halftimes be shortened to 15 minutes.

The panel also approved all proposals submitted by the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Rules Committees. Part of the package included the requirement that beginning with the 2010 season, Divisions II and III institutions will be required to have a game clock with the tenth of a second display, a red light or LED lights and shot clocks mounted on the backboard.

“The panel’s main concern with this change was financial, and the group is comfortable that the rules committees have provided plenty of time to plan and budget for this important aspect of the game,” Cochrane said.

Also approved was the rules committees’ proposal that does not allow an airborne player falling out of bounds or into the backcourt to be granted a timeout.

In other actions, the committee received reports from the field hockey and women’s gymnastics committees. The NCAA does not write the playing rules for field hockey or women’s gymnastics, so championships committees may propose rules modifications.

In field hockey, the panel accepted the proposal that established a more detailed procedure for the administration of a red card, similar to what is in place in soccer. Additionally, the panel heard an informational item that the field hockey committees are requesting the appointment of a rules interpreter.

In women’s gymnastics, the panel approved a proposal to allow the use of video to correct errors in scoring a routine. The proposal does not allow teams to use video to question judgment but does allow for reviews specific to the performance (or nonperformance) of a particular skill, combination of skills or neutral deductions (for example, out of bounds).