Football rules, Laws and Regulations

by fhs9487 (student)

AS and A Level Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

Featherstone High School

BTEC National Level 3 Diploma in Sport

(Development, Coaching and Fitness)

Unit: Assessment and Grading Criteria: P1

Name: Oliver Issac Teacher: Mr Sangha

Signature:............................................. Date: 9th of November 2012

Football rules, Laws and Regulations

Introduction

In football there are rules and regulations. There are rules which are just basically things that footballers will have to follow as well as rules that the referee will also have to follow. All rules are all made by the FA. Regulations are similar to the rules because it is a rule which controls the game and has instructions on how the football match works. Example of regulations would be that the game is 90 minutes, with 45 minutes each half and then 15 minutes break in between half time. It is then up to the assistant referee and the referee himself to decide on how many minutes they should offer hence some timewasting during time play.

There are many reasons to why there are rules and regulations put in place by the FA and the most important ones are that it provides a safe environment for both football teams and also the supporters at a football match or stadium. Roles such as having general assistance for the crowd at a football stadium is one of the important parts of keeping the environment safe and this is controlled by people who work in the stadium and are called stewards. What stewards do is, they control the crowd as well as keep the angry supporters /fan away from the entering the pitch as they can do some damage to the players as well as waste time from both teams. What these rules and regulations do in a football match is that it prevents supporters, fans, people at home who are watching the game not enjoy watching football anymore as it can reduce the number of fans coming to the stadium and watching the match.

In football there are different sizes of the football pitches because every team has their own type of tactic of playing their football games. This does not mean the size of the pitch can be whatever size they want it because there are rules to a minimum size and a maximum size of the pitch being in length and width. The minimum size a football pitch at length can be from 90metres to 120 metres maximum and the width of the football pitch has to be a minimum of 45metres to 90 metres maximum. Teams who play more of a long ball passing will usually have a narrow sized pitch because they don’t use side of the pitch and therefore it’s not required. However teams such as Barcelona who like to play a lot of possession football also use a narrow sized pitch because they are not afraid to keep the ball in between the side lines and it also improves their passing rate.

When it comes to football size in football, the size of the ball is always size 5 because a bigger or smaller ball can lead to health and safety issues. There isn’t just any ball in a football match which is played with. FIFA always approves of the balls that get used in elite football games by having a logo by FIFA approved on it, FIFA inspected logo, or a IMS logo which is the International match ball standard.

The ball is made out of leather or material which is suitable because of it isn’t, it can lead to injuries ...

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The ball is made out of leather or material which is suitable because of it isn’t, it can lead to injuries on the foot or a player’s body of it kicked on him. The ball in the beginning of a football match has to also be a specific weight and that is no more than 450 grams and no less than 410 grams. The ball size has a circumference of no more than 70cms which is 28 inches and not less than 69cm which is 27 inches. The shape of a football is spherical.

In a professional football match, there are 11 players including a goalkeeper on a pitch. A football coach will also have substitutes in case of a player with an injury. In an official football FIFA competition, a football coach has only 3 chances of using his substitutes whereas in other matches he would be given a maximum of 7 subs. If a coach will use his subs in a football game, the referee must have all names of the subs in order for them to gain a position in playing at the football game. If a football player who is sub and his name is not given to the referee then he will not take part in the match. In order for a coach to swap a player with a sub, he must inform the assistant referee and then the assistant referee must inform the referee himself so that when ball is out of play, the team can make the change of player. In a friendly football match a team can have as many subs on depending the agreement by the two teams.

A match is played for 90 minutes with 45 minutes each half and 15 minutes break at half time. The referee will make the decision of how many extra minutes the teams both get depending on how many minutes has been wasted during the game. Football teams are given the break at the first half in order for the team coach and the team itself to discuss what they need to change, new tactics they should apply in the next half and also so they can rest and have enough energy for the second half. At a league where a team has to win, and both of teams are drawing, the extra time is given after the 90 minutes with two sets of 15 minutes. If teams are still drawing then it is penalty kicks for both teams, and that will be given as much time until someone wins.

Before a team can kick off, someone has to make the decision of who kicks off and that’s the referee’s decision. The way a referee would make the decision bringing both of the captains of the two teams and by tossing a coin and the captain that wins the toss will kick off. When a football team scores a goal, the other will get the advantage by placing the ball back to the centre and kick off. For the game to start with the ball in the middle, your team must be in their own half and the other team should also be in their half, the match should not continue from centre mark until given signal by the referee. The game can be restarted by the referee after a temp0orary stoppage that is necessary. The way this happens is by having the referee dropping the ball at the place where it was located when the play was stopped and have two players from both teams.

In football, the ball can stay in play or leave the football ground which is out of play. As you can see in the example on the right hand side, if the ball is on the line, it is in play however to be out of play the whole ball needs cross the white line. Even if most of the ball is outside the white line, if a bit of the ball is still touching the white marker line then it’s still in play. If a football was rebound from the corner flag post or a goal post, the ball is considered inside therefor allowing the teams to play on. Another way is restart of play and that is when the referee decided to stop play. It is also in play when it rebound of a referee or a lines man who is on the field.

There are offside in a football game which is a little confusing to understand. The diagram on the right hand side is showing an offside. The number 11 in the red team passing to his team player who is number 10 is an offside because number 10 in red is closer and in front of blue team’s goal and the defensive players. This leaves only the goalkeeper back which isn't enough players to play him onside. This position could be forced by the defenders moving forward and it’s called the offside trap.

Diagram 1

However in diagram 2 you can see that number 3 from the blue team is very far from reaching number 9 but since he is in line with number 9 in the red team, he has led it to be onside and therefor the game can continue playing with number 9 in red creating a chance.

The offside rule is put in place because it stops players from goal hanging, where a player stands next to the opposing team’s goal keeper in the hope that someone can get the ball to him where he can receive a long ball, so he can get it past the goal keeper. This has also been put in place by the governing body because it makes the games more boring.

Diagram 2

There are fouls and misconduct happen during and sometimes after the match in football. When a player kicks or attempts to kick another opponent is one of the offences, however there are other ways of make an offence and that’s by tripping an opponent which can be used by using your hands to throw them down, using the legs which is a common one, however, it is also an offence to just stand in front of them or behind them. There are more offences and they are jumping at an opponent, charging them in a violent or in dangerous way, charging them from behind using boot feet, attempting or striking to strike at the opponent, holding and pushing an opponent and finally it is also an offence to handle the ball for example carrying it, striking it or using their hand or arm which is then followed up by giving the other team an indirect free kick.

When a player has the ball and he makes a back pass to his goalkeeper directly, and the goalkeeper holds the ball with his hands or has any contact with his hand then the other team will be rewarded with an indirect free kick. This rule was put it in place recently in 1992 which was done because it stopped the goalkeeper from wasting time and holding the ball from opportunities to the other team and by also taking possession of the ball with the hands. This also stopped the goalkeeper from having more than 6 seconds limit of goalkeeper possession. Another reason for this rule to be put in place was because it made the games more interesting and less boring.

In order for a team to score a goal, the whole ball passes over the goal line, in between the goalposts and under the crossbar. As you can see in the picture to the right, it shows that the whole ball has to pass otherwise even if it’s touching the line a little bit; it’s considered as play on with no goal. There have been some recent changes in football because a lot of times the referee is blamed for not making the right decision about the ball going in or not so therefore FA has introduced a new referee which is called an assistant referee and his job is to stand on the goal line to make sure and have a better view of the ball going in or not. They have done this because it ruins the fair play between the teams especially when the games are very important.

In order for a team to win a match, the team has to have more goals than the other team and if it ends up being equal, then the game ends as a draw which means neither of the teams won. In some games there might be extra time provided because one team has to win so therefore they play with extra time.

A goal can be scored from anywhere on the play, from anyone who is playing and that included the goalkeeper too. Goals are also scored from penalties and free kicks. However a goal cannot be scored directly from a throw in so therefore it has to be touched by someone else after the throw in order to score a goal.

A goal cannot be counted if the referee has not blown his whistle for the game to restart. Another way a goal cannot be scored is if you are taking an indirect free kick because it’s indirect so therefore the ball has to be passed to someone in your team and then you can score.