(updated 8/27/20)

Up to referee discretion.

Main points are:

– referee controls play. Since he controls the time and tempo, everything starts and stops with him. No player can catch a ref off guard and  just quickly restart play. Whistle to start whistle to stop action. In the Official/international game the time keeper stops the clock by the referees whistles. It’s a good practice to at least blow whistle on restarts So the ref has a base where to start his count downs from (5 seconds, 15 seconds) and major obvious stops in play (like fouls).

– if there is a violation in any rule Or there is a misunderstanding of sort, the usual restart point comes in form of a throw in. Referee in the situation will be able to indicate to which team the possession belongs to. Restarting throws for this tournament should be done on the referees side line so he can keep watch on the 5 second rule better. Throws will be thrown in from midpoint between half court line and the corner line in the half where the violation occurred.

– Pretty much everything else is ref instincts. Would definitely put a little importance to fouls due to the concrete surface. Don’t need any broken bones or scraped up players on top of covid. It’s futsal not outdoor soccer. So 50/50 challenges operate or resemble more like the caution in basketball because of the Possibility of fouling out. Can play stern but not out of control.

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1. Referee controls all starts and stops: Referees start and stop all play by blowing their whistle. Whistle to start whistle to stop. No quick restarts for throws, corners, free kicks, penalties, spot kicks, kick offs. After a goal is scored all players must be on their side of the court (over half line – whether they are ready or not) before ref can blow whistle for play to resume. Example: if goal celebration happens on the scoring teams half while all 5 players are in their own half, referee may blow whistle to restart kick off whether the celebrating team are in a ready state or not to defend the next play.
2. Kick off: ball must cross over half line into opponent half before ball can go backwards. Must touch a player from same team before rest of play may continue. Suggestion: use 2 person kickoff. Player may shoot and score directly from second touch on kickoff.
3. Throw-ins: Use of throw-ins for sidelines and corners (5 seconds to restart any play after whistle blows: throw ins, corners, kick offs, free kicks, penalties, spot kicks) no short throws. Must have some sort of an arc can’t be driven shots. Invalid throws become a throw for opposing team. Player throwing in the ball may throw ball to gk who can chose to catch with hands and distribute by hand, or manipulate the ball with feet. Gk may not play feet to hands or hands to feet.
4. 15 second possession: similar to a shot clock in basketball; the attacking team has 15 second possession to cross the ball over half line. Time resets for attacking team still in possession of ball after it crosses half line and will have another 15 seconds to do it again. Ball may cross half line multiple times and keep resetting multiple times as long as team is still in possession of the ball. A loss of possession is defined by the opposing team stealing the ball away definitively by interrupting obvious possession either by; knocking it out of play, by knocking it off course for a loose 50/50 ball, or other team steals the possession.
5. Goalkeeper: Gk has “1 pass back” per possession. May catch the ball from their teammate on throw-ins. Has 5 seconds to release ball from hands within the goal box on any restart. If handle with feet from throw in, may now be part of the teams 15 seconds to get ball to cross over half. Gk cannot play hand to feet or feet to hand. Any missed shot by opposing team where ball goes over end line of the defending goal, gk must have ball in hand to distribute to restart play. 5 second rule applies and may throw, roll, toss, drop kick/punt as an option. May score directly from any form of drop kick or punt from a restart. Gk cannot pass to himself for a fast break in any clear scenario involving hands to feet. Cannot cross himself over half line into opposing side. Cannot throw ball in air over the half line. However, can shoot ball from behind line to score, can drop kick/ side kick as a shot from goal to goal to score. Any punt action can be considered a shot and may cross half line. When throwing long to a player past the half line, ball may skip or roll into opposing half for a long hand pass. During the teams 15 second possession gk may handle the ball as many touches (dribbling) before passing or shooting or the “1 pass back” gk possession – example: may dribble to midline and shoot to score/pass. Gk may receive ball from a throw in explanation: If the gk receives a throw in his goal area, he may chose to catch with hands and then has to play the ball out within 5 seconds with use of his hands. If he decides clearly to manipulate the ball with his feet, must follow through playing the next play using his feet. Gk may also receive the sideline throw outside of the goal area, but only is permitted to use feet. May not bring it back to goal to pick up with hands. Gk, again may not play hand to feet or feet to hands from receiving a throw in or any other game scenario. A punt is defined as a pass or shot action – the technical mechanics and rules of hand to feet in this scenario do not apply to this action.
6. Restarting game play: Any restart from time or gk violation is restarted as a sideline throw-in for opposing team halfway between corner and midline on the violation half on the referees side on the court. Play starts and stops with referees whistle. Players have 5 seconds to restart from the moment the whistle is blown to restart possession. If takes too long, they give up possession to other team for time violation.
7. Personal/team fouls: 5 fouls 6th becomes an unopposed spot kick from 9m away between gk and shooter. Team fouls and personal fouls count the same in tally for total fouls committed per half. Players may commit up to 6 personal fouls carrying over the length of the game before having to sit out the rest of the game (on 6th personal foul the player is fouled out of the rest of the game). Each accumulated foul during the half past the 6th results in another spot kick between gk and shooter. Team fouls are the only fouls that reset back to zero each half in the game. Personal fouls continue for the duration of the match and reset for the player the following game.
8. Fouls/infractions/Penalization: Left to the referees discretion. Cannot push pull or put hands on opponent to cause a purposeful disadvantage. Cannot kick or punch or flagrantly foul an opposing player. Such actions may lead to ejection from game and possibly the tournament depending on infraction. If ejected from the current game, depending the severity of the action, player may not re enter the court until game is finished. The ejected player may, however, play the next tournament game. If the player gets ejected a second time, they may not play the remainder of the tournament. Flagrant/violent intent may lead to immediate expulsion form current game and rest of tournament. Yellow card = warning, 2 yellows = 1 red and ejection.
9. Time wasting: player is awarded a foul, may have up to 15 seconds before he may be penalized for obvious time wasting (rolling on floor, simulating injury) player may take his 15 seconds counting in head and stand back up. Gks get up to 1 minute for real injury time and 30 seconds for simulation. Any violation can result in yellow card and possession goes to other team in form of throw in (throwin half way between corner and midline) on the half where the infraction was committed.
10. Goals: a scored goal is counted when the whole ball crosses over the goal line into the goal. Can bounce in and bounce out, as long as ball has crossed over the line entirely to count as a goal. Referees will have final say on questionable goals.
11. Substitutions: substitutions are unlimited. For single player swap; can be done without stoppage to the game (on the fly).  For 2 or more players, or gk substitution; must notify referee prior to substitution. Referee will create a temporary stoppage in play when ball goes out of bounds in favor of the team asking for the substitution (ex: any favoring corner throw, sideline throw, kickoff, goalie restart, or on court foul). Either team may substitute single or multiple players after a goal has been scored and before the restart of the kick off. No time wasting: Have 10 seconds to complete multiple player or gk substitutions. Time wasting may lead to a yellow card for the player(s) in question.
12. Game Duration: For all tournament games  competing teams will play 2 halves of 10 mins. Only the last minute of games will use stop clock to affect time for every out of bounds and any restarts. Clock will stop when referee blows whistle to signify end of a segment of play and resume when blows the whistle again to signify play has resumed. If a tied score line results in any game at the end of regulation time; games will go directly to penalty kicks from 6m away. Best of 3 kicks wins. If still tied, one pk will be taken at a time (score and miss/miss and score) until one team triumphs.
13. Time outs: each team may ask for a 1 minute timeout per half. Use it or lose they do not carry over into next half or accumulate into the next games. So each game may have up to 4 total timeouts (2 per team) during a single game.

Complete AMF RULES

Kings Cup 2020 CONDENSED RULES SUMMARY

Attacking team has 15 seconds to cross the half line.

Any player restarting the action of play has 5 secs to do so.

Throw-Ins from side lines and corners.

You may throw the ball in from the side line to your GK. The GK may choose to handle with their feet or catch it in their hands.

GK is allowed one “pass back” from his team per possession and it resets after the ball crosses the halfway line while the team still maintains possession. His one possession can include dribbling, passing, or a shot.

The GK cannot cross the halfway line onto the opposing teams side of the half at any point during the run of play.

The GK cannot make a save, have the ball in hand and roll the ball to himself as a court player using his feet.

Gk must commit to handling with either the hands for a roll or a throw. Or controls it with legs to use his feet for the remainder of his possession.

GK Cannot pick up the ball after controlling with feet. Cannot catch with hands and drop to play with feet.

GK cannot throw the ball passed the half line. He can however roll it across, or skip it (bouncing at least once) on his own half while the ball continues its trajectory onto the opposing half.

However; the GK may drop-kick the ball over the half line. He may use that “drop-kick” to score on the opposing goal.

Substitutions are unlimited and happen on referee allowance at the half line.

The run of play starts and stops by the sound of the refs whistle. No quick restarts.

Yellow cards and Red cards will be issued upon referee discretion.

No Sliding Allowed.