Both international governing bodies (
AMF and
FIFA) are responsible for maintaining and regulating the official rules of their respective versions of futsal. This section covers the FIFA version of the sport. FIFA publishes its futsal rules as the "Futsal Laws of the Game", where each of the 17 "laws" is a thematically-related collection of individual regulations. The laws define all aspects of the game, including some that can be changed to suit local competitions and leagues. Many of the laws are similar or identical to those found in
association football, or reference association football in their absence (such as a section noting that there is no offside infraction in futsal). Some of the rules require subjective interpretation by the referees. : Ages 8–12: Size 3, circumference , weight between at the start of the game. : Ages 13 and up: Size 4, circumference , weight between at the start of the game. : Dropped from a height of , the first rebound must not be lower than or higher than . The goalkeepers are allowed to wear long trousers and must wear different coloured kits to distinguish themselves from the other players on the pitch and the referees. All players are allowed to wear "non-dangerous protective equipment" such as gloves, soft headgear, knee and arm pads. Jewellery is not allowed, nor are other items that could be dangerous to the player wearing the item or to other participants. The standard size court for an international match is (the size of a handball field). The minimum height of the ceiling is defined by the competition rules. A rectangular goal is positioned at the middle of each goal line. The inner edges of the vertical goalposts must be apart, and the lower edge of the horizontal crossbar supported by the goalposts must be above the ground. Nets made of hemp, jute or nylon are attached to the back of the goalposts and crossbar. The lower part of the nets is attached to curved tubing or another suitable means of support. The depth of the goal is at the top and at the bottom. In front of each goal is an area known as the penalty area. This area is created by drawing quarter-circles with a radius from the goal line, centred on the goalposts. The upper part of each quarter-circle is then joined by a line running parallel to the goal line between the goalposts. The line marking the edge of the penalty area is known as the penalty-area line. The penalty area marks where the goalkeeper is allowed to touch the ball with their hands. The penalty mark is six metres from the goal line when it reaches the middle of the goalposts. The second penalty mark is from the goal line when it reaches the middle of the goalposts. A penalty kick from the penalty spot is awarded if a player commits a foul inside the penalty area. The second penalty spot is used for a direct free kick awarded to the opposing team when a player commits their team's sixth or any subsequent fouls in a period.
Duration and tie-breaking methods A standard match consists of two equal periods of 20 minutes. The length of either half is extended to allow penalty kicks to be taken or a direct free kick to be taken against a team that has committed more than five fouls. The interval between the two halves cannot exceed 15 minutes. Each team is permitted to use one timeout per period, lasting one minute. In some competitions, a match cannot end in a draw. The away-goals rule, extra time and penalties (
penalty shoot-out) are the only three methods that can be used to determine the winner after a match has been drawn.
Away goals mean that if the aggregate score is level after each team has played one home and one away game, then the team that scored more away goals is declared the winner. Extra time consists of two periods of five minutes. If no winner is produced after these two methods, five kicks from the penalty mark are taken alternately by the two teams, and the team that has scored the most wins. If it is not decided after five kicks, it continues to go on with one extra kick from the penalty mark to each team at a time until one of them has scored more goals than the other. Unlike extra time, the goals scored in a shoot-out do not count towards the goals scored throughout the match.
The start and restart of play At the beginning of the match, a coin toss is used to decide who will start the match. A kick-off is used to signal the start of play and is used at the start of the second half and any periods of extra time. It is also used after a goal has been scored, with the team that conceded the goal restarting the play. After a temporary stoppage for any reason not mentioned in the Laws of the Game, the referee will drop the ball where the play was stopped, provided that, before the stoppage, the ball was in play and had not crossed either the touchlines or goal lines. If the ball goes completely over the goal line or touchline, hits the ceiling, or play is stopped by the referee, the ball is out of play. When the ball goes over the touchline, play is restarted with a kick-in to the opponents of the team that last touched it, taken from the touchline at the point where the ball left the pitch. If it hits the ceiling of an indoor arena, play is also restarted with a kick-in to the opponents of the team that last touched the ball, under the place nearest to where it hit the ceiling. When the ball goes over the goal line and a goal is not scored, if it was last touched by an attacking player, play is restarted with a goal clearance taken by the goalkeeper, who must use their hands to throw or release the ball from the penalty area. If the ball was last touched by a defending player, play is restarted with a
corner kick to the opposing team, taken from the corner arc nearest to where the ball left the pitch. Excluding a dropped ball, in all these situations, the ball is in play as soon as it is kicked (thrown or released in a goal clearance) and clearly moves; the player who puts the ball into play cannot touch it again before it touches another player; and play must be restarted "within four seconds of the team being ready to put the ball into play". Goals cannot be scored directly from a kick-in or a goal clearance. The ball must be stationary before every restart that involves a kick, including
free kicks.
Lack of offside rule Unlike in association football, the
offside rule does not apply in futsal. In the Futsal Laws of the Game, Law 11 references offside as it does in the association football laws, but only to say that "there is no offside in futsal".
Misconduct A direct free kick can be awarded to the opposing team if a player succeeds or attempts to kick or trip an opponent, holds, jumps at, charges or pushes an opponent, or strikes or attempts to strike an opponent. Biting or spitting at an opponent are also offences that result in a direct free kick (as well as a red card for the offender), as are striking the ball with an object and handling the ball in most circumstances (except a goalkeeper inside their own penalty area). These are all accumulated fouls. After five accumulated fouls in a half, the sixth accumulated foul and beyond result in a direct kick from the second penalty mark, and opponents cannot form a "wall" to defend the kick. The direct free kick is taken where the infringement occurred, unless it is awarded to the defending team in their penalty area, in which case the free kick may be taken from anywhere inside that area. A penalty kick is awarded to the opposing team if a player commits one of the fouls that are punishable by a direct free kick inside their own penalty area. The position of the ball at the moment that the foul occurs does not matter as long as it is in play. An indirect free kick is awarded to the opposing team if a goalkeeper releases the ball and then touches it again with their hands before another player has touched it, if the goalkeeper handles the ball after it has been kicked to them by a team-mate, if the goalkeeper receives a pass from a team-mate in their own half for a second time before it has touched an opponent, or if they touch or control the ball with hands, arms or feet in their own half for more than four seconds. An indirect free kick is also awarded to the opposing team if someone plays in a dangerous manner, deliberately obstructs an opponent, prevents the goalkeeper from throwing the ball with their hands, or if anything else happens for which play must be stopped to caution or dismiss a player. The indirect free kick is taken from the place where the infringement occurred, unless it occurred inside of the penalty area, in which case it is taken from anywhere in that area if the foul was committed by the attacking team, or from the penalty-area line if it was committed by the defending team. A goal may not be scored from an indirect free kick without the ball touching another player.
Yellow and red cards are used in futsal. The yellow card is used to caution players over their actions. If a player is shown two yellow cards in the same match, they are then shown a red card, which means that they are sent off the field. A yellow card is shown to a player who displays unsporting behaviour, dissent, and persistent infringement of the Laws of the Game, or delays the restart of play, fails to respect the distances from the ball when play is being restarted, infringes the substitution procedure or enters, re-enters and leaves the field without the referees' permission. A player is shown a red card directly (without receiving a second yellow) and sent off if they engage in serious foul play, violent conduct, or spit at another person. Other actions punishable by a red card include denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity by committing certain direct-free-kick fouls, such as by handling the ball (except a goalkeeper inside their own penalty area), and using offensive, insulting or abusive language or gestures. A player who has been sent off must leave the vicinity of the pitch. A substitute is permitted to come on two minutes after a team-mate has been sent off, unless a goal is scored before the end of the two minutes. If the team with more players scores against the team with fewer players, then a substitute can replace the sent-off player immediately. If the teams are equal when the goal is scored or if the team with fewer players scores, both teams remain with the same number of players until the two minutes have elapsed. == Governing bodies ==