Indoor Soccer Rules

AH Sport follows FIFA’s (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) indoor soccer rules, with the following amendments designed to suit AH Sport’s indoor soccer operations. For more information on the official soccer rules please visit the FIFA website (search for Futsal Laws of the game).

Safety

All players must wear non marking, closed-toe shoes.
Any jewellery is to be removed before the game.
We recommend wearing shin pads, and they are to be entirely covered by the player’s socks.
In the event of a safety incident (e.g. fire), please follow the manager in charge to a designated muster point.
No food or open drink containers are permitted on the courts.
All participants play at their own risk.
Players should note that biological hazards (e.g. blood spills) and serious injuries will result in the game being stopped until it may be safely restarted. This is at the match official’s discretion, and will not result in clock stoppages. As AH Sport provides a social competition, it is our priority that games start and finish in a timely manner.
“Stoppages” are any instances where, in the view of the presiding match official, the match cannot proceed due to issues relating to player safety. These may occur due to serious injury, unsafe playing surfaces/equipment or bio-hazard spillages (e.g. blood, vomit, faecal matter). Every attempt will be made to resolve such stoppages in a timely fashion, however, certain circumstances are recognised to be beyond the control of AH Sport.
If three-quarters of a match’s run-time is lost due to stoppage(s), the match’s result will be resolved as a 2-2 draw, and teams will receive a refund of half of their match fee. If half-or-less of a match’s run-time is lost due to stoppage(s), the match’s result will be resolved at AH Sport’s discretion.
In the event that one team is clearly identifiable as being responsible for a stoppage, or game cancellation, for reasons other than illness or injury (e.g. fighting, persistent dissent) then the match’s result will be resolved as a 5-0 win for the opposing team.

Code of Conduct

Play fair, respect your teammates, opponents and officials.
All players are expected to adhere to the AH Sport’s soccer rules and laws of the game.
Offensive language targeting anyone will not be tolerated.
Players who appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs will not be permitted to play.
Absolutely no fighting will be tolerated.
If deemed appropriate, AH Sport reserves the right to escort any players who violate the Code of Conduct off the sports premise.
If deemed appropriate, AH Sport reserves the right to suspend or permanently remove any players who violate the Code of Conduct.

Games

AH Sport’s Indoor Soccer games contain two twenty minute halves, with a half minute half time/water break.
Please ensure you arrive at least 10 minutes early to fill in the team sheet with players’ names. Team captains need to ensure this is ready before game starts.

Dress Code

All players must wear shirts of the same (or very similar) colour.
All shirts must be clearly numbered front and/or back.
AH Sport will provide bibs in the event of a uniform clash. The team listed second on the match sheet will be required to wear bibs.

Fouls / Free kicks

Walls are allowed for all free kicks as accumulated fouls are not recorded.
The distance between the free kick spot (i.e. ball) to defensive wall is five meters.

Side Balls

Teams are required to place the ball on the black side line prior to restarting play.
Some movement of the ball, after being placed, is expected and allowed; match officials will focus upon intent of the player when placing the ball.
If the ball is rolling or bouncing in a manner inconsistent with the above, possession will turn over.

Playing the ball while on floor

Players are permitted to play the ball while on the floor provided that no opposition players are within playing distance (one (1) metre) of the ball.
Slide tackling is not permitted.

Players

Junior (youth) team players must be less than 18 years of age.
Men are not allowed to participate in a Women’s team (and vice versa).
Mixed teams must have at least 2 female players on court (not including the goalkeeper) for the entire game.

Substitutions

The referee must be informed in the case of a goal keeper substitution.
All substitutions are interchange, meaning players may be substituted on and off to a team’s preference, provided a player has not received a red card.
Substitutions are permitted during play, but a substitute may not enter the court until the exiting player has left. Further, the exiting and entering players must be within one (1) metre of each other when the substitution occurs.

Fill-ins

If a team intends to use fill-ins, they must be able to provide at least three (3) of their own players in order for the game to start, and may not have more than half of the team comprised of fill-ins.
Teams may borrow players from another team to fill in for them, provided that they have no more than five (5) of their own playing personnel and that the use of fill-ins does not take their total match roster to more than six (6) players. This means that players who have six (6) team members for any given match will no longer be permitted to borrow players to allow themselves extra substitutes.
Players are only permitted to register for one team per season, and rosters are locked for the finals series. This means that if a player wishes to represent a second side, he/she may only do so as a fill-in and is subject to the previous rules regarding fill-ins.
During the course of the season, teams may use any players that they wish – provided that participation is not in contravention of the fill-ins rule – but only players who have participated in three (3) matches will be eligible to participate for said team during the finals series, should the team qualify.
Even if a player has filled in for another team on three (3) or more occasions, this does not confer finals eligibility if said player is already a member of another team’s roster.
A player belonging to a higher division is NOT allowed to participate in lower division games.
A player belonging to a lower division will be allowed to play for a higher division team games, subject to the above rules.

Points Reward System

Win = 3 points
Draw = 1 points
Loss = 0 point
Forfeit Win = 3 points (The “winning team” will receive a 5-0 score)
Forfeit Loss = 0 points (The “losing team” will receive a 0-5 score)
Bye = No points

Late Arrivals and Forfeits

Each team must be ready to play by the allotted game time, the timing of which will begin regardless.
Three players will be required per team to begin the game. A penalty of one goal per missing player will be applied and not recoverable even if they show up after game commences.
If by the 10^th minute of the first half the team is still unable to field the minimum number of players (i.e. five), the game will be marked as a forfeit, and a 5-0 score will be recorded against the forfeiting team. Forfeit fees apply.

Fouls

The goal keeper is allowed to slide, but only in his/her penalty area.
All other players are not allowed to slide at any time.
Back passes to the goalkeeper are allowed in AH Sport Futsal.

Cautions and Send offs

The referees are equipped with a whistle, and yellow and red cards.
A verbal warning, yellow card, or red card can be issued by the referee to players at any given time during the game.
Two yellow cards issued to the same player will result in a red card. The offending player will be sent off for the rest of the game, and a replacement player can join the game after two minutes or a goal, whichever comes first. The red carded player will also receive an automatic 1 match suspension.
Direct Red-carded players will receive an automatic TWO match ban.
If a particular player or team commits repeated offences, AH Sports reserves the right to impose further suspensions or expulsion from the competition if deemed appropriate.
Byes or forfeits do not count toward serving a player suspension.