Indoor soccer

Diagram of a possible North American indoor soccer field

Rules vary between governing bodies, but some of the nearly universal rule deviations from association football include:

• The Field. Most indoor soccer arenas are rectangular or oblong in shape, with artificial turf floors. In many collegiate intramural leagues, the game may be played on basketball courts, in which case the floor is hardwood. Walls (often the hockey dasher boards and plexiglas used for that sport) bound the arena. Field sizes are generally smaller than soccer fields, and the goals are recessed into the walls. Goals are also smaller than in standard soccer and the penalty area is also smaller. The field is commonly 200' by 85' (approx 61m by 26m), the regulation size for a hockey rink in North America.
• Duration. Most indoor soccer games are divided into four quarters of 15 minutes each, for a total of 60 minutes of play time. There are two 3-minute periods between the first and second, third and fourth quarters and one 15-minute half-time between the second and third quarters. If the game stays tied until the time runs out, there will be extra 15-minute, golden goal overtime periods. However, amateur leagues generally consist of two 25-minute halves with no overtime for tied games. In Futsal, each team may announce one timeout per half consisting of one minute each. Also, there is no added times for injuries, overtime, or stoppage time.[20]
• The team. Most indoor soccer games are played with six active players per team including goalkeeper and either defense or forward also known as attackers and strikers. Substitute players are permitted. At high levels of play, it is common for players to move fluidly between positions instead of staying statically in one position.
• Play off of walls. The ball may be struck in such a way that it contacts one or more walls without penalty or stoppage. If the ball flies over the walls or contacts the ceiling, play is stopped and the team opposing the one that most recently touched the ball is awarded a free kick at the location where the ball left the arena or made contact with the ceiling.
• Contact rules. Standard contact rules generally apply (i.e. ball contact must be made during a play on the ball, no charging with hands or elbows, no charging from behind, no holding the opponent etc.). Many leagues ban the use of the sliding tackle, though such techniques are less useful on artificial turf or wood than they are on a slick natural turf field. If one attempts to slide on an indoor field, painful burns and/or cuts can occur.
• No offside. Most leagues play without an offside rule. Some leagues enforce a "three-line violation", prohibiting players from playing the ball in the air from behind the front line of their own penalty area across all three lines into the opponent's penalty area. Violations often result in a free kick for the opposing team at the front line of the offending team's penalty area.

Beyond these common threads, the sport is structured according to the idiosyncrasies of individual leagues. Most of these rules are adopted from other arena sports like ice hockey. Below is a listing of some of the more common ones:

• Substitution. Most leagues allow unlimited substitutions while the ball is out of play. Some allow live substitution while the game is in progress, provided that one player leaves the arena before another steps on. A minority of leagues require substitution in shifts.
• Cards. In addition to the traditional yellow and red cards of association football, some leagues include a card of a third color (blue is a common color) or another form of warning before the issuance of a yellow card. Often, leagues with a third card include a penalty box rule, and issuance of this third card requires the penalized player to sit in the box for a prescribed period of time (usually two minutes as in ice hockey) during which his or her team plays shorthanded. In leagues using the traditional card system, it is common for the yellow card to carry with it a penalty box rule. A blue card in an indoor league can be for serious fouls or unsportsmanlike like behavior. For example, it can be because of a deliberate handball by a player, mishandling of the ball by a goal keeper, goalkeeper endangerment, boarding, and any foul during a shootout by the goalkeeper.[21] A blue card requires a two- minute penalty for the player. If you were to obtain a second blue card, you would be awarded a yellow card in its place and be punished with another two-minute penalty. A third time penalty receives an administrative red card meaning a two- minute penalty and ejection for the player. A straight red car receives a five- minute penalty and ejection for the player.[21]
• Zones. Because of short fields and walls surrounding the goal, a common tactic is to attempt to score at kickoff by shooting at the goal and charging at the goal with all five non-goalkeeper players who overwhelm the other team's defense and score at close range. As this depletes the tactics and drama of the game, many leagues have adopted an ice hockey-like zone rule, requiring that the ball not cross more than a certain forward distance toward the goal without being touched by a player.
• The ball. For indoor soccer played on artificial turf, the soccer ball is regulation and the same as outdoor soccer. For futsal, or indoor soccer on hard wood, the ball is designed to be low- bounce, weighted, and harder as there is a smaller playing area.[22]
• The crease. Some leagues enforce a special zone inside the goalkeeper's box called the crease. No player may shoot the ball from inside the crease unless that player entered the crease already having the ball.
• Multi-point scoring. Some leagues value goals scored from a greater distance to be worth two or three points from behind an arc, similar to basketball's three-point field goal. Sometimes, leagues with a multi-point system also use a rule that a minor technical infraction gives the non-offending team a one-on-one opportunity to score on the opposing goalkeeper, worth one point. Many indoor coed leagues will give a female player two points for scoring a single goal.
• Sixth attacker. Some leagues allow a team which is trailing by one or two goals late in the final period to replace the goalkeeper with a sixth position player to increase its offense in an attempt to tie the match, exactly as is done in ice hockey under those conditions.
• Goalkeeper. In Indoor arena soccer, the goalkeeper has different rules than regular soccer mandates. If the goalie has control of the ball, with either hands or feet for over five seconds in the penalty arch, a free kick will be awarded to the opposite team.  In Futsal, the goalkeeper may not possess the ball for over four seconds in their own half. Also, the goalkeeper is not allowed to throw the ball over the half-way line. In addition, the goalkeeper may not touch the ball if the ball did not go out of play, go over the halfway line, or become in possession of the opposite team. In any of these circumstances, a penalty will be awarded and a penalty kick for the other team will take place.[21]
• Accumulated Fouls. In Futsal, all fouls are recorded on the score board and if a team reaches six or more fouls, the opposing team is awarded a free kick without a wall.[3] There are two penalty spots to take a kick from depending on where the penalty happened. The first penalty spot is 20 feet from the goal line on the top of the arch. The second penalty spot is 30 feet from the goal line and at the center of the goal. The accumulated fouls are reset at the beginning of the second half but carry over into extra time.[3]

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• Media related to Indoor soccer at Wikimedia Commons
• Indoor Soccer Vs Futsal
• Jorkyball