Tournament Rules & Regulations

Tournament Format

Group Stage

  • 6 groups of 4 teams.
  • Each team will play 3 group stage games vs group opponents.
  • Teams will receive 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 for a loss.

Knockout Round

  • Each group winner along with the top 2 second placed teams will advance to the quarter final stage.

The following tiebreakers will decide group winners/second place:

  • Points, Head-to-head, Goal differential, Goals scored, Goals against, Fair play, coin toss if needed.
  • There will be no overtime in case of a tie in knockout games, straight into penalty shootout. Penalty shootout
    will be best of 3, if more than 3 are needed will be sudden death. Goalkeepers cannot encroach, penalty will be
    retaken.

Field Dimensions

  • 40 yards long x 25 yards wide.
  • Box Area: 3 yards from each post wide x 6 yards long.

Number of Players

  • 4 field players + Goalkeeper.
  • 10 player max roster.
  • Minimum 4 players to play a game.

Game Time

  • 20 minutes straight, no halves.
  • Games will be started and stopped via individual referees.

Uniform

  • Team members should be in matching color jerseys/shirts.
  • If there’s a conflict with shirt color, away team will put on pinnies.
  • Goalkeeper must be in different color jersey/shirt
  • Players are permitted to wear cleats/turfs.
  • All players must wear shin guards.

Substitutions

  • Subbing can be done on the fly, but must be done at the half line.
  • All players but the goalkeeper enter and leave as they please.
  • Goalkeeper substitutions can only be made when the ball is out of play and with a referee’s consent.

Kick-Off

  • Must be played backwards. You cannot score directly from a kick off. The kick off is an indirect kick. 
  • In all dead-ball situations, defending players must stand at least five yards away from the ball.

Kick-Ins

  • The ball shall be kicked into play from the sideline, rather than thrown in. The ball is considered in play when the ball is touched and changes position. 
  • This is an indirect kick, and a goal cannot be scored from this kick. In all dead-ball situations, defending
    players must stand at least five yards away from the ball.
  • Players will receive a warning at 5 seconds to put the ball back in play. If the player does not put the ball in play after the warning, the opposing team will be awarded possession.

Direct & In-Direct Kicks

  • All dead-ball kicks (kick-ins, kick-offs, free kicks) are indirect with the exception of corner kicks, hand balls, and penalty kicks. 
  • Indirect kicks must only change position before the ball will be considered in play. If a free kick is awarded within five yards of the opposing goal line, the ball will be moved back to five yards from the line (ex. goal keeper picks up pass back. It is the referee’s discretion where the ball will be placed. In all dead-ball situations, defending players must stand at least five yards away from the ball.

Corners

  • A corner kick is awarded when the ball entirely crosses the goal line (whether on the ground or in the air) and was last touched by a player on the defending team. The ball must be placed at the corner on the field of play. A goal can be scored directly from a corner kick. There are no offsides directly from a corner kick.

Penalties

  • Penalties will be taken from the top of the box (6 yards out) with no run up. Player will have foot placed next to the ball and shoot after referee’s whistle.

Goal Kicks

  • May be taken from any point of the goal box. All Goal Kicks are indirect kicks.

Goalkeepers 

  • Goalkeepers are restricted to using their hands only inside the penalty box. 
  • Pass back to Goalkeeper, Goalkeeper may not handle the ball.

Offsides

  • There is no offside in 5v5.

Slide Tackling

  • No slide tackling is allowed. If a player is sliding for the ball, contact with any player(s) from the other team is NOT ALLOWED. If a player slides and contact is initiated, a free kick shall be awarded. 
  • This does not prevent players from sliding to stop/intercept a ball where contact is not initiated during the slide. Example: a player may slide to save a ball from going out-of-bounds.

Referees

  • There will be no abuse of the referees tolerated, verbal or otherwise. Any indication of such behavior by a coach , player, or spectator will result in immediate removal from the tournament site. 
  • No abuse of any player, coach or referee will be tolerated. Please keep all comments (cheering) positive.

Yellow Cards

  • A player receiving a yellow card will face a 2-minute suspension from the game.
    A substitution may be made in their place
  • Two Yellow Cards: Accumulating two yellow cards in a single game results in a red card, and the player’s ejection from the game.

Red Cards

  • A player receiving a red card is immediately ejected from the game and their team must continue playing a player short for the remainder of the game.
  • A red card can also result in a suspension from the next game or even further disciplinary action, depending on the severity of the offense.

Timing

  • Games will be started and stopped via individual referees.
  • Teams must be ready to enter the field at least 5 minutes prior to scheduled game time.

Tiebreakers

The following tiebreakers will decide group winners/second place:

  • Points
  • Head-to-head
  • Goal differential
  • Goals scored
  • Goals against
  • Coin Toss

When there are 3 teams with the same amount of points (3-way tie) the goal differential, goals scored or goals against will decide who wins.