Minifootball (sometimes spelled mini-football and called minifoot) is a small-sided variation of association football.[1] Minifootball is played with a reduced field of play and the number of players. The most prominent variants of minifootball are the 5-a-side, 6-a-side (common in Socca and the WMF-sanctioned minifootball), 7-a-side, 8-a-side formats and indoor football. All games are played on football pitch (artificial turf on Socca), in contrast to futsal which is played on a hard court indoors. Minifootball is open to both professional and amateur players and has grown in popularity globally.[2]
Minifootball is an informal game with flexible rules, often determined before play begins. There have been many governing bodies that sanctions the more official and formal variations of minifootball, including the WMF and ISF. The WMF organizes its own 6-a-side World Cup every 2 years, as well as continental championships through established national federations.[3] Variations of minifootball for athletes with a physical disability are also played, with blind football and CP football are the most prominent versions.
Variants
While minifootball is played informally, there have been many official and more formal variants of minifootball with pre-exisiting rules.
WMF-sanctioned minifootball
The WMF-sanctioned version of minifootball is played on football pitch with the length of the touchline in the range of 46–50m (151–164ft), and the goalline in the range of 26–30m (85–98ft) for an international match.
A match consists of two 25-minute halves. The length of either half is extended to allow penalty kicks to be taken. The interval between the two halves cannot exceed 10 minutes.
Yellow card is used to caution players over their action, while red card sends the offending player to the penalty box for 5 minutes.
Socca is a variation of minifootball similar to the WMF-sanctioned version with different rules; Socca is played on artificial turf with larger field of play (60m ×35m (197ft ×115ft) maximum) and different pitch markings. A match consists of two 20-minute halves with a 5-minute break, which is shorter from the WMF-sanctioned minifootball.
Minifootball is also played in indoor arenas with rules that vary between governing bodies; the WMF-sanctioned minifootball allows to play in indoor arenas, while other variations are also played.
In North America, the indoor football is typically played with six-a-side teams on an ice hockey-sized pitch with artificial turf floors.
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. Many of these laws follow upon that of traditional football, however there certainly exist some key differences. One of these being the disallowance for outfielders to enter either Penalty Area. If an attacking outfielder enters the opposing penalty area, whether with the intent to score or not, a referee will stop the game and restart play with the defending goalkeeper. Additionally if a defending outfielder enters their own penalty area, the defending team will be penalized by the opposing team being awarded a free kick. While headers are allowed in play, the Head Height rule prevents the ball from being passed or shot above the head. The height is typically determined by the height of the tallest person on the field, but is not set in stone and ultimately up to referee/officiator determination. If the referee determines the ball has been passed or kicked over head height, a free kick will be awarded against the offending player. An exception is to be made if the ball reaches this height after being hit off of a goalpost or being thrown from a goalkeeper.[4][5][6][7][8]
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