| Soccer rules - Despite being a sport with roots | | | | often the case that both teams agree upon a set |
| reaching out to medieval and even ancient times, | | | | number of substitutions or simply go all-out and allow |
| soccer was never really played under a set of strict | | | | every bench player to get in the game at some |
| rules until 1863. On 26 October, 1863 several amateur | | | | point, replacing one of the first team members. Ball in |
| and semi-professional clubs from England gathered up | | | | out play soccer rules - The ball is in play whenever |
| in London and formed up the Football Association and | | | | the referee doesn't intervene whistling a game stop |
| devised a "constitution" for the game, including a set | | | | and whenever it stays inside the play area. If the ball |
| of standardized soccer.Obviously the "Laws of | | | | crosses the goal line or touch line by more than half |
| football" as they were called back then were just a | | | | its circumference, then it goes out of play and a goal |
| set of basic soccer rules and they didn't cover all | | | | kick/corner or throw in is given to one of the teams |
| aspects of the game. The main points covered by | | | | (the opposition of the team that last touched the |
| the Football Association were regarding violence on | | | | ball). If a ball hits the referee ,the corner flag, the |
| the pitch, as oftentimes the tense clashes in no-rules | | | | goal post or any other object on the pitch, the game |
| matches lead to bloody fistfights between the | | | | remains in play. Fouls - Fouls are one of the most |
| teams. Since then, soccer rules constantly evolved | | | | problematic soccer rules nowadays, since they can |
| and began covering more and more of the game's | | | | be easily misjudge or interpreted by the referee, |
| principles and also adapting soccer to the age it was | | | | which often causes arguments on and off the pitch. |
| played in. A simple example of this would be the | | | | Theoretically, a foul is whistled and a direct or indirect |
| offside rules which was introduced later on in the | | | | kick is given when a player trips, kicks, pushes, |
| game, when matches became more and more | | | | punches, charges or holds an opponent. However, in |
| tactical. Without the offside rule, attackers would | | | | the fast pace of the game, it's often hard for the |
| often have a hibernating role in the team, simply | | | | referee to see if a tackle touches the feet of the |
| staying up front and waiting for the ball to come, | | | | attacker or the ball. It's considered a foul even if the |
| hence with the new rule, they were forced to work | | | | defending player doesn't touch the attacker at all, but |
| as much as the other players on the pitch. Let's take | | | | has a dangerous intervention such as a high kick. |
| a look at some of the official soccer rules of today | | | | Goals - Last but not least, the essence of soccer |
| and give them a small explanation for why they are | | | | rules and the object of the game itself, the goal. In |
| there and how they affect the game: Soccer field | | | | order to score a goal, the attacking team must pass |
| dimensions - since not all soccer pitches could share | | | | the ball beyond the other team's goal line. The |
| the exact same size, FIFA decided a small length and | | | | attacker can kick the ball, head the ball or push it in |
| width size threshold in order for a pitch to be | | | | with any other body part other than the hand (in |
| playable. So the minimum length of a soccer field | | | | which case it is considered handball). Not all shots that |
| must be of 100 yards (90 meters), whereas the | | | | end up in the net are goals though, as a goal can be |
| maximum length must be 130 yards (120 meters). A | | | | cancelled if it was scored after the attacker broke |
| bigger size difference was allowed for the width, | | | | one of the other soccer rules, such as fouling a |
| which can be as small as 50 yards (45 meters) and | | | | defender or the goalkeeper, using his hand to control |
| as big as 100 yards (90 meters). You might have | | | | the ball, being offside or scoring directly from an |
| noticed that the minimum length coincides with the | | | | indirect free kick. These are the basic soccer rules |
| maximum width! Although strange indeed, soccer | | | | and although there are a few smaller twists to learn, |
| could actually be played on a square field, however | | | | if you manage to understand these, you'll be able to |
| for entertainment's sake no one built that kind of | | | | watch, and understand a soccer match without |
| pitch yet (thankfully). Number of players - The official | | | | problems. Outside the offside rule the other official |
| soccer rules book states that each team can enter | | | | soccer rules are quite easy to grasp. |
| the field with 11 players (one of which is the | | | | Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer |
| goalkeeper). The number of substitutes depends on | | | | Fans website that provides information on various |
| the competition the match is played in, but in official | | | | topics related to soccer such as the history of |
| FIFA matches the number of substitutes can range | | | | soccer, soccer rules, famous soccer players , soccer |
| from none to 7, with 3 substitutions eligible for each | | | | fundamentals and soccer conditioning. |
| of the two teams. However, in friendly matches, it's | | | | |