Rules of the Game
It is the team manager/coach’s responsibility to be aware of the guidelines, policies, & rules of Metro Sports Center.
- All Players must wear their team shirt colors to participate.
- Players must wear indoor shoes, sneakers, or short/one-piece molded cleats. No metal or replacement cleats are allowed on MSC Fields. Offending players will be ejected from the game & suspended indefinitely. The referee will check all players footwear before the start of each game. Adult Leagues CANNOT wear cleats.
- All Free kicks are direct, including kick-off. Players have 5-seconds to put the ball in play, infringement results in turnover of possession.
- The ball does not have to go forward on a kick-off.
- When a free-kick is being taken, the defending team must be a minimum of 10 feet from the ball.
- There is no OFFSIDE.
- Substitutions are on the fly. It is at the referee’s discretion to decide, if the substitution interferes with the play and no unfair advantage shall be obtained by the team making the substitution. The player entering the field is unable to play the ball until the player being replaced has totally left the field.
- Game clock will start at scheduled time – No exceptions. Games are on a running clock with no stoppage time.
- The game shall be played in two equal halves of up to 22 minutes each.
- Half-time interval shall be 2 minutes.
- Outdoor FIFA rules apply when passing back to the goalkeeper.
- Slide tackling is illegal and will result in an automatic 2 minute penalty. The exception being the Goalkeeper (GK) is allowed to slide tackle ONLY inside the goal box. If the GK is charged with a 2 minute penalty, a field player may serve this penalty.
- The GK may maintain possession of the ball in his/her hands for a maximum period of 5 seconds.
- All fouls committed against the attacking team in the goal box with the exception of a 5 second penalty will result in a penalty kick. A 5 second violation will result in a free kick from the spot at the top of the arc.
- 3 Line violations: If played, A 3-line violation occurs when a player propels the ball in the air across the 2 yellow lines and the half line toward an opponent’s goal without touching another player or a referee. The game will restart with a direct free kick from the offending teams restart mark.
- Ball out of Play:
- A ball which strikes the side netting will result in a free-kick on the white dashed line where the stoppage of play occurred.
- A ball which strikes the ceiling will result in a free-kick directly down from where the stoppage of play occurred. The exception being when the ball strikes the ceiling net within the goal box; this will result in a free-kick from the spot at the top of the arc.
- A ball which strikes the netting behind the goal and between the corner spots will result in a goal-kick or a corner kick.
- Chewing gum is strictly prohibited on the playing field. Anyone caught will be given an automatic 4 minute penalty.
- The use of foul language is prohibited by players, coaches and spectators. The use of foul language will result in an automatic 2 minute penalty and a second incident will result in that player or coaches ejection from the game.
- Spitting is prohibited by players and coaches. Any act of spitting will result in a minimum of a 4 minute penalty and a second incident will result in that player or coaches ejection from the game.
- Absolutely No Fighting will be tolerated. All Parties involved in a dispute may be ejected from the game, league and/or facility at the discretion of the referee & facility management for any length of time depending on the severity.
- Forfeits Will be recorded as 7 to 0 final scores. Teams forfeiting more than 2 Games in a session, can be removed from league without refund.
- Tuff/Macho Guy Rule: Any Player(s) observed verbally or physically intimidating another player/coach/referee during play can be addressed by the on field referee as follows. 1st offense) Verbal Warning. 2nd offense) 2 Goal Penalty. 3rd offense) Game Forfeit and one game suspension for offending player(s) & or Team.
- *Player Sub Policy: The managers of the team (or player rep) must discuss using a paid & rostered sub with the opposing manager prior to the game starting. That opposing manager has the right to say yes, or no. If the answer is NO, you can still use the sub, play the game, but the game is scored as a forfeit. If the answer is YES, then the game is played & the final result stands. It is 100% the responsibility of the manager(s) using the sub to ask permission of the opposing team, and then report that to the official prior to the start of the game or use of the player. If that is not done, the game will be recorded as a forfeit.
- No Outside Subs allowed. A player must be rostered and paid in the league to be used as a sub for another team. Any team caught using an illegal sub will be charged for a full league fee, and will not be permitted to continue their season until the fee is paid in Full. The team manager will be solely responsible for paying the fee.
Small Sided Game Rules
- All free kicks are indirect free kicks.
- A team may not score from their defensive end. If they do, the goal will not count and the other team will put the ball back into play with a goal-kick.
- The Keeper may not pass the ball over the mid field line in the air. If done, the ball will be placed at the mid field line and put into play by the opposing team as an indirect free kick.
- All other rules are the same as the large field or full size indoor field.
Special Adult Co-Ed Soccer Rules
These leagues are meant to be recreational in nature and MSC will strive to keep them that way. Referees will enforce the following additional playing rules for all Co-ed games:
- All Players will be awarded 1 points per goal: except for penalty kicks.
- Teams must have 2 female players on the field at all times (a female GK does count as 1 of the 2 players)
- “Own goals” will count as one point only.
- Tuff/Macho Guy-Rule: The male players cannot intentionally intimidate the female players through physical play or hard shots. The referee has the discretion to determine these actions and will communicate any requests to the offending male player. If there is no change in the player’s behavior a 2 minute penalty will be assessed.
*Any adult player ejected from a program at Metro, no matter the reason, will be automatically suspended indefinitely without refund.*