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Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from association football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. Matches are played indoors, or outdoors on artificial grass pitches that may be enclosed within a barrier or "cage" to prevent the ball from leaving the playing area and keep the game constantly flowing.
Five-a-side football is an informal, small-sided game with flexible rules, often determined before play begins. The penalty area is semi-circular and only the goalkeeper can touch the ball within it. There are no offside rules, headers are allowed, and yellow and red cards work similarly to traditional 11-a-side football. Players must wear shin guards and are prohibited from wearing metal studded boots.
Variations of five-a-side football include futsal, indoor soccer, jorkyball, beach soccer, six-a-side football, and seven-a-side football, each with their own unique rules and pitch dimensions. SUB football is a seven-a-side variation mainly played in Australia and New Zealand. There is also blind football, played by athletes with visual impairments.
Five-a-side football is quite popular among youth organizations in the US, and some teams have secured sponsorship deals worth thousands of pounds. Governing bodies like the World Minifootball Federation, International Socca Federation, and JFA7 promote small-sided football competitions and unite national associations.
The penalty area is significantly different from football: it is semi-circular in shape, only the goalkeeper is allowed to touch the ball within it, and they may or may not be allowed out. Goalkeepers are only allowed to give the ball out to another player through hands. The goalkeeper may only kick the ball to effect a save. There are no offside rules. Headers are allowed. There is no protocol of deliberate handball versus accidental handball – the referee needs to make a decision based on the distance from where the ball was hit. Yellow cards may result in the offending player being sent to the "sin bin" for a predetermined length of time. Red cards work in the same way as the 11-a-side game, the offending player being dismissed from the match. Charging/sliding tackles are awarded a yellow card.
Additionally, metal studded boots cannot be worn, as this would damage the playing surface. Players are also required to wear shin guards, but enforcement of this is usually at the discretion of the referee.
Five-a-side is commonly played informally, and the rules are therefore flexible and are sometimes decided immediately before play begins; this is in contrast to futsal, for which official laws are published by FIFA.
The English FA have drawn up a full list of laws for the small-sided game which expands upon the rules outlined above and includes minimum/maximum pitch dimensions as well as technicalities on free-kicks and other parts of the game. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Futsal is a version of indoor five-a-side football developed by the Asociación Mundial de Fútbol de Salón (AMF / English: World Futsal Association). It currently has two governing bodies: the AMF and the association football international body; the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
Indoor soccer is an indoor variant played primarily in North America, typically with six-a-side teams on an ice hockey-sized pitch.
Jorkyball is a 2vs2 format of football played in a plexiglass cage of 10m x 5m. The players can use the walls to pass and to score. The governing body is the Jorkyball International Federation.
Beach soccer is a variation on five-a-side football in that it is played on a sandy surface. Rules do not greatly differ from those found in regular five-a-side football.
A variation with three five-a-side teams playing simultaneously on a circular pitch 60 yards (55 m) in diameter. A team scores a point by advancing the ball through either of their opponents' goals.The game was invented in, and is seen primarily in, the United States. [5]
A variation with increased pitch size and number of players on a team. In this variation there are five outfield players and one goalkeeper on the pitch for each team at any time. Other rules do not differ from those found in five-a-side football.
This is another variation with increased pitch and team size; in this case with six outfield players and a goalkeeper on each side. The rules differ from those from five-a-side. [6]
SUB football is a variation of seven-a-side football primarily played in Australia and New Zealand. The rules have been modified slightly to encourage new players to the game, with strict enforcement of non-contact and two ways to score points: by scoring a goal in the same manner as the other formats, or by scoring a board that is on either side of the goal. The boards are usually 2.5m long and one third of the height of the goal. A goal is 3 points and a board is 1 point. When the ball goes out of play, it may be kicked or thrown in. This applies to the sideline and corners. [7] [8]
There are many operators of five-a-side football in Europe (Powerleague, Goals Soccer Center, UrbanSoccer), and most of all in the UK. [9]
World Minifootball Federation (WMF) unites 71 national associations, grouped into federations by continent. European Minifootball Federation consists of 32 member associations. EMF organizes EMF miniEURO and EMF Champions League competitions.
International Socca Federation (ISF) is a six-a-side football organization, running yearly Socca World Cup events since 2018. 44 national teams participated in the 2023 Socca World Cup.
The F5WC is the world's largest amateur five-a-side football tournament in the world with over 48 participating nations.[ citation needed ]
IFA7 is the international association that promotes seven-a-side football. IFA7 held the first known Seven-a-side Football World Cup in 2017 in Guatemala, with Russia winning the title. [10] [11]
Small-side football facilities are increasingly popular as a way for clubs to generate revenue through rentals, birthday parties and corporate events and to allow early scouting of young players.
The popularity of five-a-side youth football has grown tremendously within the US. [12] [13] Many organisations have chosen this format and modified it slightly to promote an environment where children can excel early in youth sports. [14] The American Youth Soccer Organization and the United States Youth Soccer Association are among the largest organisations bringing this format to the regional US-based youth soccer arena. [15] [16] [17]
In recent years a few five-a-side teams have found themselves sponsorship deals with thousand-pound contracts. Sponsors feel with the vast numbers of participation in five-a-side football rising in the UK that it is a good place to advertise and tend to sponsor competition winners or league winners at local facilities so that they know that their deals are with the best five-a-side teams around the area. [18]
Association football, commonly known as football, or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who primarily use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing team. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport.
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalkeeper. Teams must move a hockey ball around a field by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting circle and then into the goal. The match is won by the team that scores the most goals. Matches are played on grass, watered turf, artificial turf, or indoor boarded surface.
Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt like a basketball court, smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football.
Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor soccer, as it is most often known in the United States and Canada, was originally developed in these two countries as a way to play soccer during the winter months, when snow would make outdoor play difficult. In those countries, gymnasiums are adapted for indoor soccer play. In other countries the game is played in either indoor or outdoor arenas surrounded by walls, and is referred to by different names.
The Laws of the Game are the codified rules of association football. The laws mention the number of players a team should have, the game length, the size of the field and ball, the type and nature of fouls that referees may penalise, the offside law, and many other laws that define the sport. During a match, it is the task of the referee to interpret and enforce the Laws of the Game.
Socca is a team sports game with a ball, a variant of football in the 6x6 format.
Seven-a-side football is one of the minifootball variations of football, which is played among seven players in each team. In the game consists of one goalkeeper and six outfield players. The pitch of seven-a-side football is bigger than that of five-a-side football, ranging from 50-65 yards in length and 25-50 yards in width respectively.
Cageball is a sport invented by the football coach Jörg Berger in October 2002, seeking a way to play association football despite bad winter conditions.
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word football normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly called football include association football ; Australian rules football; Gaelic football; gridiron football ; International rules football; rugby league football; and rugby union football. These various forms of football share, to varying degrees, common origins and are known as "football codes".
Mini football may refer to:
Association football was first codified in 1863 in England, although games that involved the kicking of a ball were evident considerably earlier. A large number of football-related terms have since emerged to describe various aspects of the sport and its culture.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to association football:
Amputee football is a disabled sport played with seven players on each team. Outfield players have lower extremity amputations, and goalkeepers have an upper extremity amputation. Outfield players use loftstrand (forearm) crutches, and play without their prosthesis.
Comparison of association football (football/soccer) and rugby union is possible because of the games' similarities and shared origins.
The World Minifootball Federation (WMF) is highest global authority for 6-a-side, with 5 a-side, 7 a-side, 8 a-side, and arena soccer disciplines version of minifootball. WMF exists to promote, supervise and direct minifootball growth. Its members are worldwide national minifootball teams and continental minifootball federations.
Minifootball is a small-sided variation of football.
Futsal began in the 1930s in South America as a version of association football, taking elements of its parent game into an indoor format so players could still play during inclement weather. Over the years, both sports have developed, creating a situation where the two sports share common traits while also hosting various differences.
Omegaball is a variation of association football in which three five-a-side teams play in a simultaneous competition with each other on a circular pitch that is 60 yards in diameter. The distance from each goal to the center location is roughly 30 yards. Each team has a goal to protect, and the goals are evenly distributed along the perimeter of a circular field.