FUTSAL RULES

FollowNot yet followed by anyone

TIME: 20 minute halves. 2 minute half time

• Teams switch benches at halftime so subs occur in defensive half of court in both halves
• Each coach may call (1) one-minute time out per game (use or lose) when in possession of the ball
• There are no time outs in overtime
• Time out requests are made to the referee

PLAYERS:  4 + GK

SUB ON THE FLY within bench marks, and after outgoing player leaves field.

Failure to do so results in a caution and an indirect free kick is taken from where the ball was situated when the game was stopped to caution the player

NO OFFSIDE

KICK-INS replace throw-ins (Goals cannot be scored from kick-ins)

5 YARDS (15 feet) given on all restarts

4 SECONDS to put ball into play, including goal throws. The referee will give a visual count with his hand. Infraction results in opponent’s ball on arc

GOAL CLEARANCE (replaces goal kicks). GK has 4 seconds after retrieving ball to throw (or bowl) to teammate. Throw must leave penalty area

GK DROP GK may drop ball and play with feet after making a save from run of play, but not from goal clearance (goal kick)

GK PUNTING Not allowed whatsoever

SPECIAL GK RULE GK can only play the ball (by feet or hands) for 4 seconds in their own half one time per possession. Once a GK plays the ball, they cannot touch the ball a second time in their own half unless it has been touched by an opponent or goes out of bounds. GK’s playing in opponent’s half have no special playing restrictions.  

SLIDING TACKLING Field Players – no sliding.  GK’s – allowed to slide to make a save, provided that in referees’ judgment the slide is an attempt to make contact with the ball, not the opponent. Referees need to exercise good judgement as there will be natural incidental contact between players in these situations, including the attacking player appearing to be tripped by GK. If GK slide is at least careless (a foot in air, a hook, rolling tackle) it is a foul and possibly a cardable offense

6 FOUL RULE Upon a team’s 6th accumulated foul in each half and all other accumulated fouls within the half, the other team is awarded a penalty kick taken from the 10 meter penalty mark or where the infraction occurred (if it is in a more favourable spot). The defending team cannot build a wall to block the kick. The player taking the kick must be clearly identified and the player taking the kick must make an attempt at the goal

SENDING OFF FOULS (RED CARD) A player is sent off (may not re-enter) and his/her team plays a man down for 2 minutes. Substitution may occur after 2 minutes. Some examples of Sending Off Fouls include:

• Handling the ball deliberately (field player)
• Denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity by handling the ball
• Denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by fouling an opponent moving toward the goal.

Players receiving red cards WILL NOT have a mandatory 2 game suspension, as is customary, but we hope coaches self-police their players and “do the right thing”

USE OF CARDS GUIDE (regarding physical challenges)

“CARELESS” action: VERBAL Chat – Player appears to have made a clumsy tackle without intent to injury

“RECKLESS” action: YELLOW Caution – Player has acted with complete disregard to the safety of his/her opponent

“EXCESSIVE FORCE” action: RED Send Off – Player has far exceeded the necessary use of force and is in danger of seriously injuring his/her opponent

House Rules

Caution Sending Off: if a player receives a yellow caution, that player must leave the game for 2 minutes (approximately) and is replaced (team does not play short).

Slaughter Rule: If a team is losing by 10 goals mid-way through the second half, the losing coach will be asked if they want to continue the game or not. If they don’t then the game is over.

Add-a-player: Up to U14, a team down by 5 goals will have the option of adding a player (i.e. to play 6v5) until the goal difference gets back to 3. High School (U15+) teams will not have that option as the field would get too congested with the bigger players.

Max goal difference: We will not report a goal difference of more than 10 goals so for example if a team wins 20-2, the score will get recorded as 12-2.