The official Special Olympics Sport Rules govern all Special Olympics competitions. Special Olympics has developed these rules based upon International Federation and Governing Body Rules for each sport. Please refer to Sport Rules Article 1 for information pertaining to Codes of Conduct, Training Standards, Medical and Safety Requirements, Divisioning, Awards, Criteria for Advancement to Higher Levels of Competition, and Unified Sports®.

Teams attending 2019 World Games Abu Dhabi should use 2016 Sport Rules.