Field of the Game

Soccer 7s Rules

RULE 01

FIELD OF THE GAME

01 - Dimensions

The field of the game should be rectangular, and its length should not exceed 55 meters nor should be inferior to 45 meters, its maximum width should be 35 meters and the minimum 25 meters. The length should be always superior to the width. Goal Area and Penalty: the lines will be 08 meters within the field. Height of the meta: 2,20 meters e 5,00 meters of width (measured in the internal part), with round posts of 10 cm of diameter.

02 – Marking the field

The field should be marked with very visible lines of 10 cm of with, which should follow the level of the field. The longer lines that limited the field are called lateral lines and shorter lines are called background lines. In half of the field there will be a transversal line from side to side, called central line. A very visible point, exactly in the half of the central line, will mark the center of the field. Two lines of 5 meters will be traced. They will be parallels and have the same distance of 5 meters from central line, one in each half of the field, in order that if a perpendicular in half of this line it will coincide with center of the field, and they will be called lines of kick off and shoot out line.

03 – Goal and Penalty Area

From each extreme of the field, two perpendicular lines to the background line will be traced, with 5 m of distance from each post. These lines will be 8 m within the field and will be linked in extremities by a parallel line to the background line with 15 m of length.

04 – Goals

The Goals must be aligned in the center of each background line. It must be two perpendicular posts of 5 m and linked by a horizontal bar that has 2,20 m from de floor. The bars must be painted in White. The webs can be made by, jute, náilon or another correct material, with small holes, in a way that the ball cannot pass through.

05 - Substitution Zone

It is located in front of the representative’s table; they are two parallel lines with 5 meters distance between each other.

06 – Bench and the Table of the Representative

The fields of the game should have benches of at least 5 meters, for each side, for the reserve players and members of the technical team and they should also have a table with two chairs for the representantative and delegate of the game.

07 – The Coach’s area

It should be located in front of the reserve players and 50 cm distant from the lateral line, extending itself from one side of the line of kick offand the other side until the possible limit of the field, always parallel to the lateral line demarcated per section lines.

RULE 02

THE BALL

01 - The ball should be spherical and its wrapper of leather or other approved materials. It’s not allowed to use any material to make the ball that can be of any risk to the players. Its circumference will not exceed 69 centimeters e will have, al least, 65 centimeters. Its weight, in the beginning of the game, will be 420 a 450 grams. The pressure will be of 05 or 06 pounds, its first kick, in natural grass or synthetic from a height of 2 meters should not be over 80 cm.

Specifications of the Ball and their Categories:

CATEGORIES / CIRCUMFERENCE / WEIGHT / PRESSURE
Sub 09
Sub 11 / From 61 to 62
centimeters / From 270 to 310
grams / Until 05
pounds
Sub 13
Sub 15 / From 63 to 65
centimeters / From 320 to 350
grams / Until 06
pounds
Sub 17
Sub 20
Main
Veteran
Master / From 66 to 69
centimeters / From 420 to 450 grams / From 06 to 10
pounds
Female Sub 15 / From 63 to 65 cm / From 320 to 350 grs / Untill 06 pds
Main Female / From 66 to 69 cm / From 420 to 450 grs / From 06 to 10 pds

02 – If the ball bursts or deflates, during a match, the game should be interrupted, starting over by a kick off performed with a new ball, on the same place where the first ball burst or deflated.

03 – If one of the problems above occurs during an interruption of the game (out of bounds, goal kick, corner kick, free kick, penalty or throw in) the match should be started over with a change of the balls to continue normally.

RULE 03

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

01 – The match will be contested by two teams, each of them with Seven (7) players maximum, one of them will be a goalkeeper. It’s obligatory to start the game with Seven (7) players.

§ 1º - When one or both teams are with less than four players, the game will end this team will lose the game. If both teams end up with less than four players at same time , neither will earn victory..

02 - The number of substitutions is unlimited, restricted to the 15 players registered in the team for the game, without any need to stop the game to make the substitutions.

03 - The match should not be interrupted because of a foul. The players involved will be warned immediately after the first moment the ball is out of game.

04 – The other players that come back from disciplinary cards (yellow and blue) or after an injury, should receive an order from the referee to re-enter to the game, even with the game in process. The entry and exit of the players in the above cases and in the case of substitutions, should be done in the substitution zone.

PENALTY: The player that breaks any rule will be warned by the referee and if the match is interrupted by the referee for the application of action,

•Should be started over by a free kick, carried out by a player of the opponent team from the place where the ball was in the moment the game was stopped.

•If the free kick is given to a team inside its own goal area, this could be carried out from any point from the same goal area where the ball was in the moment of the paralization.

•If the free kick is given to a team inside its own goal area, this could be carried out from any point.

RULE 04

THE PLAYERS' UNIFORM / TECHNICAL COMMISSION / REFEREES

01 – A player will not be allowed to use anything that could be dangerous to the other players.

02 - The uniform of the players will consist of shirt of short sleeves or long sleeves, shorts, long socks, sneakers or shoes made from sailcloth, kid leather or soft leather, with sole and rubber covering on the sides. It’s prohibited the use of shirts without sleeves.

NOTE: The referee should inspect the sneakers of all the players before the game starts and every time that there is a substitution. The players should be certain that their equipment are in accordance to official rules.

03 – The goalkeeper will use a uniform with different colors from the other athletes. The goalkeeper only is allowed to use training pants for protection.

04 – The playerswill use, on the back of their shirts, numbers from twenty (20) to thirty (30) centimeters of height. It’s not allowed the repetition of numbers, so they can use numbers from 01 to 99 but not repetitive. It’s obligatory to use different colors from the colors of the shirt. The players can use any number.

05 – The referee can demand a player to remove any object that might be dangerous to the other players, Images or texts that is disrespectful and not within accordance of fair play will not be allowed. The referee will prevent the participation of the player in question.

06 – The Player should always wear the complete uniform correctly. The shirts should be inside the shorts and the socks up to the knees, as the rule determines. If this doesn’t happen, the player should be removed from the field and allowed back in the game only when the game is stopped, after the referee verifies the normal conditions of the uniform.

07 – The captain must be identified, with a different uniform color tag fixed on his arm, if he goes out of the game, he needs to give the tag to another player, of his own team.

08 – The player can play using appropriated glasses, but the referee needs to put in the summary that the player is the responsible for any accident that can occur.

09 – It’s recommended to the player to use a shinbone protection.

10 – If the team doesn’t have a goalkeeper reserve, the team must have another goalkeeper shirt with a number different from the others players that are under the summary, and the color must be different from the opposing team.

11 – The player can use thermic shorts if the color of the short is the same color of the correct uniform (the uniform used by the others players of his team).

12 – The athlete that remove his shirt for complete will be punished by no discipline.

THE TECHNICAL STAFF UNIFORM

01 – The Technical Staff will use pants, shirt with sleeves sneakers

Pants of jogging suit, or similars, tennis shoes, appropriated shoes or kickshaws.

THE UNIFORM OF THE OFFICIALS

01 – The referees will use uniforms with shirt of the color used by this Federation, short sleeves or long sleeves, shorts, socks and sneakers in black color.

NOTE: If the temperature is too down, the referees can use jogging suit shirts, but they need to keep the originals characteristics of the official shirts;

02 – When the color of the shirt of the athletes is the same of the ones used by the referees, the latter should use shirts of different colors. The other parts of the uniform should be kept.

03 – The representatives must use uniforms, official shirts, jogging suit pants, socks sneakers, kick shoes or appropriated shoes in black color;

04 – The representative must use the uniform with the official shirt and the distinticve of the entity they belong to. It is recommended the use of the maximum entity, National or International.

RULE 05

TIME OF THE GAME

01 – The duration of a Soccer Sevens match is 50 minutes, divided by 2 periods of 25 minutes, with 10 minutes of interval between both periods, for the Youth, Principal and Veterans categories; for Kids/Youth, Youth and Women categories 40 minutes. All categories will have two periods with equal time and 10 minutes of interval between the periods. All the other categories to be created should follow the Federation advice.

CATEGORIES / TIME / BREAK / OBSERVATIONS
Sub 09
Sub 11
Sub 13 / 30 minutes
(15 x 15) / Maximum
10 minutes / The extra time cannot be more than 10 minutes
(05x05)
to define the winner.
Sub 15
Sub 17 / 40 minutes
(20 x 20)
Sub 20
Main
Veteran
Master / 50 minutes
(25 x 25)
Female Sub 15 / 30 minutes (15 x 15)
Main Female / 40 minutes (20 x 20)

§ 1º: Any injury reasons or any other reason will result in additional timein any of the periods, depending on the referee’s decision.

2º: It will be allowed to the captain or the coach of a team asks for a timeout period, for each period of the game. The captain should request it to one of the referees and the coach to the representative of the game.

•The time request will last 1 minute that should be added to the end of each period.

•About this time request, the teams have to get together at the penalty spot, from their side of the defense, and only the coach and the masseur registered in the summary will be allowed in the field.

1. a)The interval between the two periods should not exceed 10 minutes.

1. b)All the games must have an interval for the athletes to rest.

1. c)

RULE 06

BEGINNING THE GAME

01 - For the beginning of the game, the choice of the side of the field or the kick off will be chosen with a coin.

•The winner will chose the to begin the game or the side of the field he will prefer to defend first.

•The match will begin with the whistle of the referee. One player will kick the ball in the direction of the opposite field and the ball should be motionless in center of the field.

•All the players should be in their defense field and the athletes of the opposite team that is starting the game should keep a distance of more than 5 meters from the ball.

•The game will begin only after the player touches it in direction of the opposite field.

•The player that gives the initial kick will not be allowed to touch the ball again before any other player does it.

a) After a goal is scored, the match will start the same way by a player from the team, which has conceded the goal. There will be a punishment if the player from the team that scored the goal delays the match.

b) After the interval, to start the game again, the teams will swap sides and the kick off will be given by an athlete from the opposite team to the player that gave the kick off in the first half.

c) If the teams didn’t swap sides, in the moment the mistake is found out, the referee should stop the game. They will swap sides and continue the match and start the game with the ball in the center of the field. Everything that happened in that short moments will be valid.

d) In case it has not happened the inversion of the banks of reservations, the departure won't be paralyzed for to regularize this situation.

e) The initial kick will only be able to be accomplished by participant athlete of the game.

The time will not be valid directly when of the kick off, in the beginning of the first and second half, or after a goal is scored.

PENALTY: Reversion in goal kick.

§ 2o: The ball sould be reposed in 05 seconds, if this does not occur the team can suffer penalties, but they never lose the ball to the other team.

02 - By any infraction of this rule, the starting will be repeated, except if the player that carried out the kick off touches again the ball before another athlete. In the case of this infraction, a player of the opposite team will give a free kick from the point where the infraction ocurred as it will be considered a personal foul.

03 - After any temporary paralization for a motive not mentioned in this rule, since the ball has not gone beyond the borderlines of the field, the referee will start over the game from the point where the ball was in the moment of the paralization.

1. a)The game will begin again as soon as the ball touches de ground.

1. b)The game will begin again as soon as the ball touches de ground.. If after starting over the game, the ball goes out of field without being touched by any athlete, the move will be repeated.

1. c)Not one player can touch the ball before it touches the ground. If this happens the move will be repeated.

1. d)If at the time of the starting over of the game, an athlete commits an act of indiscipline, he must be warned, disqualified or expelled according to the infraction commited by him. The referee will start the game again, as the match had not yet started.

Note: When the ball execution “Ball on the ground” all the athletes except the two adversaries, must be in a distance of 05 meters of the ball.

RULE 07

CONDITIONS FOR STOPPING OFGAME

01 - The ball will be out of the game:

a) When it goes beyond, either by the ground or by the air, over the borderlines field.

b) When the game is interrupted by the referee.

c) When it touches the outter protection net.

02 - The ball will be always in the game in all the other occasions from the beginning until the end of the game, including in the following cases:

a) If the ball hits the goalpost;

b) If the ball hits the referee when he is inside the field.

c) While waiting for the referee’s decision in case of an infraction of the rules of the game.

NOTE 01: The lines that are marked on the field belong to their surface; as a consequence, the lateral and the background lines belong to the field of the game. If the ball runs over the line will be in the game, being out when going completely beyond the lines of the game.

NOTE 02: It is valid, when of the replacement of the ball, the goalkeeper to put the hands out of the goal area in the moment of the throw, taking into account the position of their feet (that will partially be able to be on the line or completely inside of the area).

RULE 08

GOALS SCORED

01 - Apart from the exceptions anticipated in the game’s rules, a goal will be scored when the ball goes completely beyond the background line between the goalposts and the transversal bar. As long as it has not been intensively carried, thrown or hit with the hand or arm by a player from the attack, except the goalkeeper when he is inside his own goal area or in penalty.

a) If a goal is not scored or if the teams have the same amount of goals, the match will be considered draw, but if one of the teams scores more goals it will be considered the winner of the game.

b) This rule defines the only way by which a game can be considered won or draw. There are no variations in this case.