The rules will follow the United States Soccer Federation rules for outdoor play with additional guidance from the USSF Futsal and USSF Indoor rules with the following exceptions:
Law 1: Field dimensions conform to what is available at the facility.
Law 2: A special low bounce indoor ball will be used to minimize injury and damage to the facility.
Law 3: U-12 and below will have 4 field players and a goalie. U-14 and above will have 5 field players plus a goalie.
Law 4: Proper footwear and shin guards are required. No jewelry will be allowed. Any item deemed dangerous by the referee must be removed.
Law 5 & 6: One referee will officiate the match, and be responsible for time keeping. The referee will also submit a game report at the end of the match with the final score along with any cards or items of note.
Law 7: The match will consist of 2 twenty-minute halves with running time, 5-minute half time interval. Matches can end in a tie. Tiebreaker procedures will be in place for tournaments and playoffs.
Law 8: The ball will be put in play with a kickoff; the ball will be considered in play when it is touched and moved regardless of direction. A goal can be scored directly from a kickoff
Law 9: The ball is out of play when it crosses the touchlines of the smaller court, end boards are in play. A ball landing on the back of the net is out of play and the restart will either be a goal clearance or corner kick, whichever applies. On the larger court, the ball is out of play when it touches anywhere except the boards. Balls hitting the ceilings, wires, lights, or netting will be considered out of play (superstructure violation). The referee is considered part of the field of play if he/she is standing on the field.
Law 10: Method of Scoring- No change.
Law 11: Offside- not enforced in indoor soccer.
Law 12: Fouls and Misconduct- The 10 penal fouls and the 8 non-penal fouls still apply. Additional penal fouls will be enforced for slide tackles and boarding. All cautions and send-offs apply. If a player is ejected, he/she has 2 minutes to vacate the playing area. All restarts from fouls will be an indirect free kick (IFK). The only exception to this will be penal fouls in the penalty area, the resulting free kick (penalty kick) will be a direct free kick (DFK). The first red card of the season will result in an ejection from the game in progress as well as a one game suspension. The second red card during the season will result in an ejection plus a two game suspension. The third red card will result in a suspension for the remainder of the season.
Law 13: Free Kicks – the required distance for the defending team to retreat on free kicks is 5 yards. The player who puts the ball in play from a restart may not touch the ball again until it is touched by another player.
Law 14: Penalty Kick – The normal law applies with the exception of distance.
Law 15: Throw In – The throw-in will be replaced by a kick-in. A goal cannot be scored directly from a kick-in. An IFK will also be the restart after a superstructure violation, hitting ceiling, lights, wires, etc. from the closest place on the court to where the violation occurred.
Law 16: Goal Kick – This restart must touch the ground, side boards (where applicable) or a player before it crosses the half way line. Any distribution from the penalty area must touch the ground, side boards or a player before it crosses the half way line. Restart for this violation will be an indirect free kick.
Law 17: Corner Kick – some minor modifications will be made for the placement of the corner kick arcs.
Law 18: The goalkeeper may not play the ball with his/her hands until the ball enters the penalty area only if last touched by the opposing team . The position of the ball, not the position of the goalkeeper’s body/feet, will determine if the ball is within penalty area.
NOTE: The goalkeeper may not play a ball with his/her hands that has been passed back from the feet of his/her teammate. THERE IS NO PASSBACK. This is consistent with outdoor play.