FA RULES OF WALKING FOOTBALL

 

 The  following is a brief guide to the FA Rules for Walking Football which will be applied to the matches

 

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PLAYING THE GAME, the FA LOTG in brief.

Players safety – All players must wear shin pads. No jewelry is allowed to be worn. Appropriate footwear for 3g pitches to be worn. No metal studs or blades allowed.

No Running – Walking is defined as ‘always having at least one foot in contact with the ground’. The referee will award an indirect free kick against any player who is seen to be not walking and will be taken from where the offence took place.

Four cumulative running offences by a team will result in a penalty kick being awarded to the opposing team.

N.B Running or Jogging is not permitted off the ball either.

All Free Kicks – Awarded will be IN-DIRECT with the exception of a penalty kick and a corner kick. All opposing team players must retire 3 metres from the ball.

Local Rule: Players taking the free kick cannot kick the ball directly at an opponent. If they do so a free kick is given to the defending team.

Overhead Height Definition - The ball shall not be allowed above the height of the crossbar, if this does happen an indirect free kick will be awarded to the opposition team from where the offence took place.

Any shot parried above head height by the goalkeeper shall result in a kick in for the opposition from the side line no further than 6 yards from the corner flag.

Any ball played against an opponent, except the goalkeepers, that goes above head height will result in an indirect free kick to the opposing team of the player who last touched the ball.

Heading - No player can head the ball at anytime – indirect free kick is awarded to opposing team.

Penalty Area Encroachment – No outfield player will be allowed to enter the penalty areas (D’s) unless carried by momentum. In the event of an attacking team player entering the area, an indirect free kick will be awarded to the goalkeeper and if a defending team player enters the area a penalty kick is awarded. If the goalkeeper leaves the area, a penalty kick is awarded to the opposing team, moved back to 3 metres from the edge of the ‘D’.

Physical Contact – no overzealous / aggressive challenges or slide tackles are permitted. Any infringement of this rule will result in an indirect free kick to the opposing team. All players are encouraged to defend within half a metre of an opponent. Any challenge from behind or through an opponents legs are not allowed.

Back Passes - A goalkeeper is permitted to pick the ball up from a back pass but cannot touch the ball with any part of the body from a consecutive back pass from the same player which will result in an indirect free kick. Goalkeepers are permitted to kick the ball from ground or throw the ball under arm only in open play.

Ball out of play/restarts - All balls out of play will be kicked into play. In all instances all opposing players must be 3 metres away when the ball is being passed back into play.

Local Rule - Restriction of touches of the ball – players in possession of the ball have only 3 touches of the ball, 4 or more touches will result in an indirect free kick to the opposition. Please note this rule also applies to the Goalkeeper.

Goal kicks - Must be underarm throw in or a kick in from the floor by the Goalkeeper from anywhere inside the area. In open play Goalkeepers must play the ball within a 6 second period or an indirect free kick is awarded to the opposition.

Player conduct – A blue card replaces the yellow card and is awarded to any player committing 3 of the same offence, especially running, or a single offence that would normally be a yellow card. A player awarded a blue card will be sent to a sin bin for a minimum period of 2 minutes.

A player awarded 2 Blue Cards in the same match will be awarded a Red Card and miss the next match. A straight red card will result in the player being banned for the next 3 games.

Penalty kick is awarded when:

1. A team accumulates 4 running offences by any player.

2. A defending player who denies the attacking team an obvious goalscoring opportunity will result in the offending player receiving a BLUE CARD and the attacking team being awarded a PENALTY KICK.

3. A defender deliberately encroaches the penalty area.

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