The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel reviewed several issues relating to the playing-rules process at its Thursday  meeting, including sportsmanship, officiating and game-ending scenarios for all sports.

The panel supported a proposal from the Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct to include a sportsmanship statement in each sport’s rules book, with the recommendation that the statement be read before all contests.

Recognizing that many conferences have developed their own sportsmanship statements and initiatives, PROP seeks to leave some room for conference and institutional autonomy.

“We are continuing to support and assist our playing-rules committees in developing policies that remain in line with overall NCAA initiatives of improving the student-athlete experience and encouraging a positive environment,” said Rob Halvaks, senior associate commissioner at the Big West Conference and chair of the panel.

The group also reviewed current issues for several sports at the only annual in-person meeting of the panel. Specifically, the panel heard a report detailing a partnership between the NCAA and the Collegiate Commissioners Association to establish a national effort to centralize and encourage more consistency in college football.

The panel took action to request each rules committee to review its rules relating to fighting. In some sports, fighting rules do not exist. The panel is recommending that those sports consider rules to cover such occurrences.

Officiating in all sports was a major topic of discussion. PROP directed NCAA staff to consider reviewing the issues surrounding officiating, including recruitment of new officials, continuing education and integrity of officiating on a national level. The committee recommended that initiatives aimed at addressing those issues become a priority soon and requested NCAA staff assistance to determine what areas of the NCAA membership might deal with the issue.

“We had some very good discussion on a variety of officiating topics,” Halvaks said. “This important issue is extremely complex and large in scope. The panel believes that there are areas for improvement, but at this time it is unclear where these efforts should start.”