Court
The game of futsal is played on an indoor marked field, called the court, and the ball can go out of play.
The Ball
The game is played with a ball that has 30% less bounce than a standard football. We will use size 3 ball. Teams may use a size 2 ball by agreement.
Team
Futsal is a 5-a-side game with up to 5 substitutes
Offside Rule
There is no offside rule in futsal.
Rotating Substitutions
There is no limit on how long a player must stay on the court, nor is a stoppage required for player substitutions which are permitted during play. Substitutions can be made at any time and do not need to be signalled to the referee. Players substituting must enter and leave the field via the marked substitution zone in front of the team benches; the player joining the game must not do so until the exiting player is off the court.
Kick-ins
In order to re-start the game after the ball has gone out of play, the ball is kicked back into play from the touchline and from corners. The ball must be placed stationary on the touchline and the feet of the player taking the kick-in must not cross the line. Kick-ins are indirect.
The 4 Second Rule
For kick-ins, free kicks, goal clearances and corner kicks, the player in possession of the ball has 4 seconds to restart play which the referee will count. If play is not restarted within four seconds an indirect free kick will be awarded to the opposing team. The goalkeeper is not allowed to control the ball for more than 4 seconds in his/her own half, if they are in the opposition half the 4 second rule is no longer relevant, and they can control the ball with no time restriction.
The 4 metre Rule
Players are required to keep 4 metres from the player in possession of the ball on free kicks, corners, goal clearances, kick-ins and penalties.
Goalkeepers
Goalkeepers are allowed to come out of the penalty area and players are allowed to go into the penalty area. A goal clearance (the name given in futsal to what is called a goal kick in football) must be thrown / rolled by the goal keeper (and not kicked). Once a goalkeeper has played the ball they cannot touch the ball again in their own half until a member of the opposing team has touched the ball.
Fouls
Futsal aims to emphasise skilful play and free kicks will be awarded for fouls. The game is played on a hard surface in a confined area with walls near the touch line and referees will look out for interventions that could lead to injury. For example.
Slide Tackles
Slide tackles are not allowed. Whilst not itself illegal in futsal, will be penalised as it endangers other players, for example by risking bringing them to the ground
Accumulated Fouls
If a team commits a sixth accumulated foul, the opposing side are awarded a direct free kick from the second penalty mark and every other accumulated foul (7th, 8th etc.) results in a direct free kick from the same place. No wall is allowed, and all players must be behind the ball, similar to a penalty. It does not matter where the foul is committed, the direct free kick is taken in front of the opposition goal on the second penalty mark.
Game Time
There are two games formats:
1. Round Robin: 3 teams play each other in a one-hour slot. Each match will last 18 minutes with no half-time and a two-minute break to rotate teams.
2. Single match: 2 teams play each other in a 45 minute slot, 2 halves of 20mins with a 3 minutes half time.
Time Outs
There will be no time outs. In Futsal each team is allowed a time out in each half, due to the time slots available to the league we are unable to allow time outs as these could make games exceed their playing slot.