Winter Freeze Indoor Classic REGISTRATION All teams must apply using the online registration process at www.indianaelitefc.com/freeze. LENGTH OF GAMES All games will be played with a 40-minute single period running clock. All games will start at the scheduled time. The referee may stop the clock for serious injuries or other incidents. RULES AND REGULATIONS 1) The Court and Ball a) Regulation size 4 futsal balls will be used. b) All court boundaries and dimensions will be demonstrated for teams if necessary. 2) The Number of Players a) Teams may have a maximum of 10 players per team; 5 players are on the court at one time, 4 court players and 1 goalkeeper. There must be at least one player of each gender on court at all times. b) There are unlimited substitutions. c) The referee must be notified if the goalkeeper is changed. 3) The Player s Equipment a) All players within a team must wear the same color playing shirt. Uniforms are highly encouraged, but a coordinated color will suffice. b) All players must wear non-marking, athletic footwear. c) Shin pads are highly recommended. d) Players may not wear jewelry, any other sharp adornments or anything that may be deemed dangerous to other players. 4) The Start and Restart of Play a) From a kick off, the ball must be played forward. A goal cannot be scored directly from a kick off. b) The opposing team must be inside their own half, at least 10 feet away. 5) The Ball In and Out of Play a) When the ball goes out over the sideline, it is then placed on the sideline, or up to 1 foot behind the line. From a stationary position, the ball is kicked into the court to another player. b) Corner kicks will be taken if a ball touches a defending player before crossing the goal line. A goal kick will be awarded in the instance an attacking player is the last to touch it before it crosses the goal line.
c) For a ball to be out of play, all of the ball must have crossed the side or goal line, either on the ground or in the air. d) For a goal to be scored, all of the ball must have crossed the goal line between the goal posts, either on the ground or in the air. 6) Free Kicks a) Direct and indirect free kicks will be awarded at the discretion of the referee. b) A direct free kick allows the kick taker to score directly from the free kick. c) To score from an indirect free kick, the ball must touch another player before entering the goal. d) A direct free kick will be awarded in the following instances; a foul (i.e. tackle from behind), incorrect slide tackle, and/or careless,excessive contact. A direct free kick may also be awarded for any behavior the referee deems to be unsportsmanlike (i.e. purposely handballing, shirt pulling, etc.) e) An indirect free kick will be awarded for all other offenses such as accidental handball, goalkeeping infringement, breach of the goalkeeping area by court players, and restart of play. f) Goalkeeping infringements include: not restarting play within 4 seconds, handling the ball when passed back by a teammate, and handling the ball outside of the goalkeeper s area. g) Kick takers are permitted a one step distance as a run-up to take kicks. h) All opposing players must be 3m from the ball on direct and indirect free kicks. 7) Fouls and Misconduct a) Slide tackles or tackling a player from behind is not permitted. Playing on the ground is permitted when not endangering a player. b) Physical contact is expected, but should be kept to an absolute minimum (i.e. minimal shoulder-to-shoulder contact will be allowed, and judged by the referee). c) The referee has the ability to remove a player from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct. This may result in a temporary sin-bin, or complete removal from the remainder of the game. d) A sin-bin will result in a player being removed for 3-5 minutes, with no substitution allowed. e) There are NO offsides. 8) The Penalty Kick a) A penalty kick is awarded if a defender deliberately enters the goalkeeper area in an attempt to stop the ball, the goalkeeper deliberately handles the ball outside the goalkeeper area in order to stop a shot at goal, or in the event of a deliberate foul when a player is in the act of scoring a goal. b) All obvious goal scoring opportunities will be identified at the referee s discretion. c) The penalty taker must be identified before the kick is taken. d) The penalty kick takes place from the middle of the yellow basketball free throw line. e) All other players must be at least 3m away, and behind the line of the ball. f) The penalty taker is permitted one step back before kicking the ball. g) The referee will give a signal to indicate when the penalty will be taken. 9) Goalkeepers a) Goalkeepers have 4 seconds to control the ball/restart play inside their own area. b) Goalkeepers are not allowed to pick up a back pass from any of their teammates.
c) A goal clearance is when the ball travels outside the goalkeeper s area, either by pass, throw or dribbling. d) Goalkeepers can restart with a throw or indirect kick when the ball has gone out of play behind their goal. e) Throws and kicks must touch either a player or the ground before the halfway point at any restart of play. This does not include when the ball is dribbled out (this is deemed as the restarti.e. can dribble out, and lob a ball on the full over halfway). f) Throws and kicks are free to travel anywhere on court during general play (i.e. a back pass or save), as long as it doesn t breach rule 10g. g) Drop-kicks and punts are not allowed. h) Goalkeepers may be changed during the match, as long as the referee is notified of the change. 10) The Referee a) All games will be controlled by a referee who enforces the rules of the game. b) Referees have the right to warn, ask to leave, or eject from the facility any player or spectator whom they feel is bringing the game into disrepute. c) Referee s may play an advantage should a team not be negatively affected by a technicality or foul immediately to improve the flow of the game. d) No use of hands, diving, or slide tackling. e) No stalling to protect the lead. f) The referee s decision is final. At the conclusion of each game, the referee shall complete a scorecard, including the match results, cautions, and ejections. The Field Marshall/Tournament Director resolves all conflicts 11) Competition a) Defaults will be recorded as a 5-0 victory to the non-offending team. Multiple defaults will be met with a warning, and subsequent removal from the league should it continue. b) Should a team not have the minimum player requirements (i.e. one player of each gender on court), teams will be allowed the option to either record the game as a default to the nonoffending team, or play on as normal with new parameters of the game agreed upon by both teams prior to the game starting. c) Drawn games will be recorded a such, unless they are in a significant semifinal/final. d) In the event a major semifinal/final is drawn, a penalty shootout will take place. e) A shootout will be run in accordance with penalty kick guidelines above. Teams must nominate 5 different players to take a shot at goal. The winner is determined by the team with the most goals scored out of 5 attempts f) If, after 5 attempts, the game is still drawn, sudden death will occur, and the first team to score when their opponent does not score, will win. 12) Overtime Periods a) During preliminary round competition, no overtime will be played.
b) In the event of a tie in a semifinal or championship game, teams will designate 5 players to take alternate penalty kicks: the best of 5 is the winner. Only those players on the field of play at the end of the second half are eligible to take penalty kicks. c) If teams are still tied after 5 kicks, the remaining players will take alternate penalty kicks in sudden death fashion to determine a winner. TOURNAMENT SCORING/TIE BREAKING Games in the preliminary rounds will be scored as follows: Win = 3 points Tie = 1 point Loss = 0 points A forfeited game will be scored as a 3-0 win for the winning team. A forfeited game will count as one of the minimum number of games guaranteed to each team. In the event of a tie in deciding group positions, the following criteria will be used to break the tie: Head to head competition (in the event of 3-way tie, proceed to second tie breaker). Goal differential (goals scored minus goals allowed, maximum 5 per game) Goals scored (maximum 5 per game). Fewest goals allowed (maximum 5 per game). Most Wins. Least goals conceded. THE TOURNAMENT 40 minutes games with a running clock. All games start and end at the same time. Players will have 3 minutes to leave the field after each game. Official tournament FUTSAL balls will be used for all games. Games will be started with a kick-off at midfield. Home team (team listed first on schedule) will kick-off. All kick-offs, kick-ins and free kicks are INDIRECT. If ball goes out of bounds over the sideline, game will resume with kick-ins (instead of throwin), corner kicks and goal kicks to be done within 5 seconds. If a foul is called, the game will resume with a free kick at the spot of the foul. The end line walls are considered OUT OF PLAY. If the ball goes out of bounds over the end line, either a corner kick or goal kick will be awarded. After a goal, restart the game with a kick-off at midfield within 5 seconds. A team will forfeit a game if a team fails to arrive to a game 5 minutes prior to the scheduled start, or if a team fails to have the minimum number of players as required above. A team that forfeits a game will not be allowed to participate in any championship match. N O T E: There is NO GOALKEEPER RULE However, players are NOT PERMITTED to use their hands at any time!
Group Formats-Teams Guaranteed 3 Games FOUR TEAM DIVISION will consist of one (1) Bracket of four (4) teams. Each team will play the others within its Bracket for a total of three (3) preliminary games. The first and second place teams will meet for the Championship. FIVE TEAM DIVISION will consist of one (1) Bracket of five (5) teams. Each team will play the others within its Bracket for a total of four (4) preliminary games. The first place team will be determined by the total number of points from their preliminary games. There is NO final. SIX TEAM DIVISION - teams guaranteed 3 games. Winners play for Championship. Second and 3rd place teams play consolation match for their 3rd games. EIGHT TEAM DIVISION will consist of two (2) Brackets of four (4) teams. Each team will play the others within its Bracket for a total of three (3) preliminary games. The first place teams from each bracket will meet for the Championship. * Youngest age groups will start first GENERAL RULES AND CODE OF CONDUCT - Artificial noise making devices are strictly prohibited. - No animals are allowed. - No alcoholic beverages or smoking is permitted. - No verbal abuse of anyone is allowed including, but not limited to, Tournament officials, referees, and players. DISCIPLINARY ACTION All yellow and red cards issued during the Tournament will be reported to the Tournament committee. Any player or coach receiving a red card will be banned from the current game, and at the least, the next scheduled game for that particular team. No substitutions will be permitted for an ejected player during that game. A team found to be using an ineligible player will forfeit the game and may be removed from the Tournament without refund. Any team or club receiving a disproportionate number of yellow and or red cards may be banned from the Tournament for a minimum of 3 years. Anyone fighting or verbally abusing anyone can be subject to ejection from further Tournament participation. Passes will be retained by the Tournament director and returned to the coach of the team after the player has sat out their suspension. Coaches will be held responsible for the behavior of their players, parents, and supporters. In accordance with the USYSA regulations, the issuance of all yellow cards and red cards and other matters involving the conduct of a team, its players, coaches, and supporters will be recorded by our organization and this information will be reported to the IYSA (or the USYSA state
organization for teams from outside of Illinois) and the home club/league of the player, coach, team or supporters involved. The Tournament director reserves the right to eject anyone (including players, coaches, and supporters) from further Tournament participation and/or from the Tournament grounds if they fail to abide by the Tournament s Code of Conduct. PROTESTS Protests must be made in writing by the team s coach and submitted to the Tournament committee within 1 hour after completion of game. Protests may only involve non-referee decisions regarding player eligibility and Tournament rules. After a protest is made, the Tournament committee will meet within 2 hours of the protest being made, and the committee will review the written protest. The Tournament committee must provide quick due process. The Tournament committee, at its discretion, may ask that evidence be presented by the parties involved in the protest. Based upon the written protest and the evidence presented by the parties involved, the Tournament committee will then make its decision as to whether or not to uphold the protest. A minimum of 3 Tournament committee members must review each written protest. The Tournament committee s interpretation of Tournament rules and protests shall be final and may not be appealed. All decisions by referees may not be appealed. REFUND POLICY Once a team has been accepted into the Tournament, there will be no refunds made unless the Tournament is cancelled, in which case refunds will be disbursed on a pro-rata basis. If the Tournament is cancelled due to an act of nature, the Tournament may retain 20% of the team entry fee to cover non-refundable expenditures for the Tournament. Note that the Tournament committee has the right to relocate, reschedule, cancel or shorten any game. Shortened games, relocated and rescheduled games will constitute a played game, and the Tournament will not refund any money for forfeited games.