a player has been receiving repeated lengthy suspensions for repeated behind-the-play offences. Game length In the major professional league AFL, each quarter runs for 20 minutes plus time on – which makes up for time occupied in stoppages, such as when the ball goes out of bounds, injuries, goals (or behinds) being kicked, or when the umpire is setting the angle of a free kick on goal. A typical AFL quarter might run from 27 to 33 minutes, but may be even longer if, for instance, injuries cause delays. AFL breaks after the first and third quarters are 6 minutes, with a 20-minute break at halftime. Thus, a match with quarters averaging 30 minutes would last about two and a half hours. Time is kept by two off-field officials, known as "timekeepers", who sound the siren at the start and end of each quarter. The quarter or match ends when a field umpire hears the siren, with the exceptions that a score can result from a ball already in flight at the time of the siren, and that a player is allowed to kick for goal after the siren from a mark or free kick which was paid before the siren. The manner of timekeeping in Australian rules football is unusual compared with other sports, in that the timekeepers keep track of time using a count-down clock which begins at 20 minutes and is stopped during any time-on; but, clocks displayed at the ground count up from zero and are not stopped during time-on. As such, spectators and players present at the ground never know exactly how much time is left in the game. The timekeepers' countdown clock is seen by the coaches and is shown by many television broadcasters. AFL Competition Committee The AFL Competition Committee is responsible for management of the Laws of Australian Football. It replaced the Laws of the Game committee in 2018. The 2020 membership of the Competition committee is: Previous members of the committee have included former VFL/AFL players Kevin Bartlett, Brendon Gale, Andrew McKay, Matthew Pavlich, Luke Darcy, Adrian Anderson, Rowan Sawers, Nathan Buckley and Steve Hocking. Buckley controversially resigned in 2007 due to apparent disagreement with the frequent changes made by the committee, citing that he did not want his name to be associated with the changes. See also :Category:Australian rules football terminology External links Laws of Australian Football – 2020 References