User:South Nashua/Differences between the rules of futsal and association football

Futsal sprung up in 1930s South America as indoor version of association football, taking elements from its parent sport and various other sports to create a new hybrid. Over the years, both sports have developed creating a situation where the two sports share common traits while also hosting various differences.

Similarities

Method of Scoring/Ball In & Out of Play/Start and Restart of Play

Scoring takes place when the entire ball passes over the goal line in between the goal posts.

The ball is also considered out of play in both sports when it completely passes over the goal line or the touch line and the attacking team kicks the ball back into play in a Corner kick when the defending team kicks the ball over the goal line.

Kick-offs also take place in each sport at the beginning of each half or after the scoring of a goal and dropped-balls occur when play is interrupted for any reason not otherwise specified within the laws of the game.

During restarts from the touch line, futsal and association football require at least part of the ball to be behind the touch line until the ball is back in play.

Advantage/Disciplinary Sanctions/Fouls/Free Kicks

There are ten identical fouls that result in direct free kicks and if any one of these fouls occur in the penalty area, a penalty kick is awarded. Referees are also allowed to let play continue if the stoppage of play would reward the team committing the foul, better known as the "Advantage Rule."

Cautions and sending-off offenses are also identical, and the procedure regarding free kicks is the same, although in association football all opponents must stay at least 9.15 meters from the ball until it is back in play where in futsal, all opponents must stay at least 5 meters from the ball until it is back in play.

Differences

Scope

A futsal pitch

Association football pitch

The scope of play in association football is much larger than it is in futsal.

A futsal pitch is approximately a third of the size of an association football pitch and a futsal ball is also about six centimeters smaller on average.

Understandably, there are fewer players on the pitch in futsal (five, including a goalkeeper) than in association football (eleven, including a goalkeeper).

Referees

In a regulation match, association football will generally have one referee and two assistant referees while futsal will have one referee and one "second" referee.

The three-referee system in association football holds much clearer distinctions among the officiating team than the two-referee futsal system.

In association football, determinations made within the duties of the assistant referees are subject the final decision of the referee.

This is technically not the case in futsal, as the two referees are co-equal in everything outside of timekeeping and the decision to suspend or abandon a match. However, in practice, the second referee is considered subordinate to the "primary" referee and is expected to defer to their decisions whenever there is any conflict, comparable to the assistant referee/referee dynamic, although this is far more rare than in association football.

An assistant referee in association football

In the three-referee system, the assistant referees are located along the right touch line of each team's attacking half, keeping in line with the second-to-last defender, the ball or the half line. Per what is known as the "Diagonal Control System," the referee's optimal position is in a location approximately equal to the two assistant referees and the ball that allows the referee to watch play so calls may be made if needed.

Association football assistant referees also hold flags to indicate calls. Futsal referees do not have flags, but make motions comparable to assistant referees to indicate when the ball is out of play.

Futsal referees move along the touch line up and down the width of the court, with one "leading" referee situated ahead of play and one "trailing" referee situated behind play, comparable to Basketball.

Assistant Referees exist in higher level futsal matches, serving as replacement referees and either third referees (generally overseeing substitutions and time-outs) or as timekeepers (keeping a record of the time and goals scored at the discretion of the referee.)

Duration of the Match

The duration of the match can vary depending on league variations. However, at the highest levels of play, both sports are separated into two standardized halves of equal time, allowing for extra time to be played at the referee's discretion to make up for any time wasted.

In futsal, that standardized time for each half is 20 minutes and in association football, the standardized time for each half is 45 minutes.

Also in futsal, teams are allowed to stop the clock once per half, something not allowed in association football.

Accumulated Fouls

Unlike in association football, futsal keeps track of fouls that award a direct free kick, also known as "accumulated foul."

Upon the sixth accumulated foul in a half and every accumulated foul after the sixth, the free kick is generally taken from what is known as the "second penalty mark."

If the infringement takes place in the attacking half of the pitch, the fouled player may take the free kick from the spot of the infringement or from the second penalty mark, which on a regulation futsal pitch is 10 meters from the goal (the penalty mark is six meters from the goal.)

Unlike a penalty kick, the goalkeeper is required only to stay 5 meters from the spot of the free kick and does not have to stay on the goal line until the ball is kicked. The player kicking the ball must also shoot at the goal and all other players must stay behind the ball until the ball is kicked.

Offside

In association football, a player is an offside position is they are beyond the half-line, the second to last defender or the ball at the moment when their teammate touches the ball. They are committing an infringement if they are in an offside position and are involved in play, interfering with play or gaining an advantage from being in an offside position.

In futsal, there is no comparable offside rule, although a portion of the Laws of the Game is dedicated to indicating that there is no offside rule.

Kick-ins/Goal Clearances/Speed of Restarts

The use of the foot on a Goal kick and the hands on Throw-in is reversed in futsal with the goal clearance and a kick-in.

During play in futsal, if the attacking team sends the ball over the goal line, the goalkeeper restarts the ball through a goal clearance, where they throw the ball to another player outside of the penalty area. When either team sends the ball over the touch line in futsal, the other team kicks rather than throws the ball back into play in what is known as a kick-in.

With goal clearances, kick-ins, corner kicks, the ball must be put back into play within four seconds. Whenever the goalkeeper otherwise has possession of the ball in their own half, they also must give up possession of the ball within four seconds once they are ready to release the ball. Goalkeepers must release the ball within six seconds in association football, but this rule is often ignored.