Rules
Futsal rule changes 2025-26: what FIFA's new Futsal Laws changed
The FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025-26, in force from 5 September 2025, stop counting a foul punished by a penalty kick as an accumulated foul, drop the ball for the team that had or would have gained possession, bar opponents from challenging a goalkeeper holding the ball, and allow video support with a single camera.
Everything that changed in the 2025-26 Futsal Laws
FIFA's Futsal Laws of the Game 2025-26 took effect on 5 September 2025. FIFA published the amendments in a separate summary of changes, which marks new text in italics and deleted text struck through. Nothing about the shape of a match changed: the halves, the timeouts, the six-foul threshold and the two-minute reduction after a red card are as they were. What changed is how fouls are counted, how play restarts after a stoppage, and the details of video support.
| Law | What the 2025-26 edition says |
|---|---|
| 1, The pitch | The corner-distance mark is 8 cm wide and 40 cm long, 5 cm from the goal end line; background music must not drown out the whistles or the timekeeper's signal |
| 2, The ball | A defective ball or an extra ball that interferes is replaced with a dropped ball, under the new dropped-ball rule |
| 3 and 4, Players and equipment | Interference by an extra person or a player re-entering without permission is a direct free kick and an accumulated foul, but not an accumulated foul when it is a penalty kick |
| 8, Dropped ball | Dropped for the team that had or would have gained possession, not the team that last touched the ball |
| 9, Ball in play | A substitute, team official, sent-off player or player temporarily off who touches a ball clearly leaving the pitch gives an indirect free kick, with no sanction |
| 12, Fouls and misconduct | No accumulated foul when a penalty kick is awarded; a goalkeeper holding the ball cannot be challenged; DOGSO is judged on "active" players and a "guarded" goal; offences off the pitch restart on the nearest boundary-line point |
| 13 and 15, Free kicks and kick-ins | If the kicker leaves and a substitute touches the ball before anyone else, it is an indirect free kick to the opponents |
| 13.4, Accumulated fouls | Defined as fouls penalised with a direct free kick; the words "or penalty kick" are deleted |
| Video support protocol | At least one camera covering the whole pitch; an extra unsuccessful challenge for the shoot-out; no challenge for an incident before a granted timeout |
| Interpretation and recommendations | Kick-off without asking the goalkeepers; a table for double touches at penalties and 10 m kicks; a warning signal 10 to 15 seconds before a timeout ends |
The rest of the amendments are referee positioning and wording. The sections below take the changes that alter what happens on the court, in order of how often they come up.
A penalty kick no longer counts as an accumulated foul
Since 2025-26, a foul punished with a penalty kick does not add to the team's accumulated fouls. Law 12.1 lists the direct-free-kick offences and now ends: "All of the offences listed in this section count as accumulated fouls; however, no accumulated foul is recorded when a penalty kick is awarded." Law 13.4 was cut to match. It used to define accumulated fouls as "those penalised with a direct free kick or penalty kick"; the 2025-26 text says only "a direct free kick".
The same exception was written into every other place a foul is accumulated: interference by a team official, substitute or sent-off player (Law 3.9), a goal scored with an extra person on the pitch (Law 3.10), improper re-entry (Law 3.11) and a player returning after an equipment problem (Law 4.6). Each now says "a foul is accumulated, except when a penalty kick is awarded".
| Team A commits | Before 2025-26 | 2025-26 Laws |
|---|---|---|
| Four fouls, each a direct free kick | 4 | 4 |
| A trip in their own penalty area | 5, and a penalty kick | 4, and a penalty kick |
| A push in midfield | 6: a 10 m kick, no wall | 5: a free kick, wall allowed |
| A late tackle | 7: a 10 m kick | 6: a 10 m kick |
In practice the change gives a team one more foul before the 10 m kicks begin, for every penalty it concedes. A team already past five gains nothing on the count, because every further foul still gives a 10 m kick; its sixth or later foul inside its own area is a penalty kick, as before, and now leaves the count where it was.
The old rule is still being repeated
Much of what ranks for the rule has not been updated. FIFA's own explainer, "The rules of futsal explained", published in October 2018, says "a count is kept of fouls penalised with a direct free-kick or penalty kick in each time period". The FA's online futsal Laws, checked on 8 October 2026, show an older edition whose Law 13 still defines accumulated fouls as those "penalised with a direct free kick or penalty kick". If a league handbook or a coach repeats the old rule, the current text of Law 12.1 is the answer.
What stayed the same about fouls
Accumulated fouls are still counted for each team in each half, and the count still starts again at zero for the second half. Extra time still carries on from the second half: "If extra time is played, accumulated fouls from the second period of the match continue to count during extra time" (Law 13.4). From the sixth, each foul still gives a direct free kick from the 10 m mark, or from the place of the foul if it was between the 10 m line and the goal end line, with no wall (Law 13.5).
The dropped ball now follows possession
Since 2025-26, a dropped ball goes to the team that had the ball, not the team that touched it last. Law 8.2 now reads: "One of the referees drops the ball for one player of the team that had or would have gained possession when play was stopped if this can be determined by the referees; otherwise, it is dropped for one player of the team that last touched it." The deleted wording dropped the ball "for one player of the team that last touched the ball" in every case.
| Play is stopped | Before 2025-26 | 2025-26 Laws |
|---|---|---|
| For an injury just after a Team A tackle pokes the ball to a Team B player | Team A, which touched it last | Team B, which would have gained possession |
| When the referees cannot tell who had possession | The team that touched it last | The team that touched it last |
| In Team A's penalty area, Team B attacking with the ball | A Team B player on the penalty-area line | A Team B player on the penalty-area line |
| In Team A's penalty area, Team A's goalkeeper holding it | The team that touched it last, where the ball was | Team A, where the ball was |
The procedure is otherwise unchanged. Every other player stays at least 2 m from the ball, which is in play when it touches the pitch, and a dropped ball that enters a goal without touching two players gives a goal clearance or a corner kick. The new rule also governs every restart that uses a dropped ball: a defective ball, an extra ball that interferes (Law 2), a spectator's whistle, a referee's whistle blown by mistake and a timekeeper's signal sounded by mistake.
Goalkeepers: protected with the ball, and still four seconds
The 2025-26 Futsal Laws add one sentence to Law 12.2: "A goalkeeper cannot be challenged by an opponent when in control of the ball with the hand(s)/arm(s)." Breaking it is an indirect free kick offence. A goalkeeper playing the ball with the feet can still be challenged.
The four-second rule did not change. A goalkeeper who "controls the ball with the hands, arms or feet in their own half of the pitch for more than four seconds" concedes an indirect free kick, and the Law counts the goalkeeper as in control when holding, bouncing or dribbling the ball.
The eight-second rule is not a futsal rule
Searches for the futsal changes regularly return the eight-second goalkeeper rule. It is not in the Futsal Laws. It is one of the 2025/26 changes to the IFAB Laws of the Game for eleven-a-side football, where IFAB's summary reads: "A goalkeeper who controls the ball with their hand(s)/arm(s) for more than eight seconds will be penalised, with a corner kick being awarded to the other team". The same goes for the "Only the captain" guidelines, an eleven-a-side option that is not among the futsal amendments.
| Futsal Laws 2025-26 | IFAB Laws 2025/26 (eleven-a-side) | |
|---|---|---|
| Time limit | 4 seconds, in the goalkeeper's own half | 8 seconds, with the ball in the hands |
| Applies to | Hands, arms or feet | Hands or arms |
| Restart if exceeded | Indirect free kick | Corner kick |
| Challenge on a goalkeeper holding the ball | Not allowed (new in 2025-26) | Not allowed |
Video support: one camera and a challenge for the shoot-out
Futsal's video support (VS) is a challenge system, not a video assistant referee: a team's head coach asks for a review of a goal, a penalty, a direct red card or mistaken identity, and the referees watch the footage themselves. The 2025-26 edition changed three things.
- Cameras. The old text said "at least four cameras are needed". It now says "at least one camera covering the whole pitch must be used", and recommends separate cameras for each penalty area, each end line and the main clock. Video support becomes possible at venues with one camera.
- The shoot-out. Each team gets "an additional unsuccessful challenge during penalties (penalty shoot-out)", on top of one unsuccessful challenge in each half and one in extra time. Successful challenges remain unlimited, and none carry over.
- Timeouts. "Once a timeout has been granted, challenges cannot be used in relation to incidents that took place prior to the timeout." A coach cannot call a timeout to study a replay and then challenge.
Competitions may also have the referee announce and explain a decision publicly after a review.
The smaller clarifications
The rest of the amendments settle situations the old text left open. None changes the score of a normal match, but each answers a question that comes up at the touchline.
- A bench touch on a ball going out. A substitute, team official, sent-off player or player temporarily off who touches the ball "when it is clearly leaving the pitch", without meaning to interfere unfairly, gives an indirect free kick, with no caution (Law 9.2).
- A kicker who goes off. If the player who took a free kick or kick-in leaves the pitch and a substitute touches the ball before anyone else, the opponents get an indirect free kick (Laws 13 and 15).
- Offences off the pitch. Play restarts on the nearest point of the boundary line, and a direct-free-kick offence becomes a penalty kick if that point lies on the offender's part of the end line inside its penalty area (Law 12.4).
- Kick-off. "The referees do not have to request confirmation from the goalkeepers or any other player before ordering the kick-off to be taken."
- Timeouts. Competitions are advised to sound a signal 10 to 15 seconds before a timeout ends, and substitutions may be made only after the final signal.
- An accidental handball. A goal scored straight after an accidental handball is disallowed with an indirect free kick; if the ball goes over the end line instead, it is a goal clearance.
The new table on double touches is the one most likely to surprise a player, because a penalty and a 10 m kick are treated differently.
| What happens | Penalty kick | 10 m kick (DFKSAF) |
|---|---|---|
| Kicks it with both feet at once, and it goes in | Retaken if accidental; indirect free kick if deliberate | Goal |
| Kicks it with both feet at once, and it misses | Indirect free kick | Play continues |
| Accidental touch with the other foot straight after, and it goes in | Retaken | Retaken |
| Deliberate second touch before anyone else plays it | Indirect free kick | Indirect free kick |
In a penalty shoot-out, a kick that would be an indirect free kick is recorded as missed.
What did not change in 2025-26
The parts of futsal that a scoreboard keeps are as they were. These are all in the 2025-26 text, unchanged by the amendments.
| Rule | 2025-26 Futsal Laws |
|---|---|
| Match length | Two periods of 20 minutes of playing time, the clock stopped when the ball is out of play (Law 7.1) |
| Half-time | Up to 15 minutes (Law 7.4) |
| Timeouts | One of one minute per team in each period, not carried over, none in extra time (Law 7.3) |
| Accumulated fouls | Counted per team per period; from the sixth, a 10 m kick with no wall (Law 13.5) |
| Red card | The team plays one short for two minutes of playing time, or until the right goal (Law 3.8) |
| Players | Five, one a goalkeeper; a match may not start or resume with fewer than three (Law 3.1) |
| Substitutions | Unlimited, through the substitution zone; up to nine substitutes in official competitions (Law 3.2) |
| Extra time | Two equal periods of no more than five minutes each (Law 10.2) |
| Penalties | Five each, then sudden death (Law 10.3) |
| Restarts | Four seconds for free kicks, kick-ins, goal clearances and corner kicks |
The 10 m kick's name is also settled. The Laws call the spot "the 10m mark" and the kick a "direct free kick beginning with the sixth accumulated foul", shortened to DFKSAF. Older explanations, including FIFA's 2018 article, call the spot the second penalty mark.
Frequently asked questions
What are the new futsal rules for 2025-26?
The main changes in the FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025-26 are that a foul punished by a penalty kick no longer counts as an accumulated foul, a dropped ball goes to the team that had or would have gained possession, an opponent may not challenge a goalkeeper holding the ball, and video support needs only one camera, with an extra challenge for the shoot-out.
When did the 2025-26 Futsal Laws of the Game come into force?
On 5 September 2025. FIFA's edition of the Futsal Laws of the Game 2025-26 carries the line "Effective from 5 September 2025" on its title page, and it replaced the previous edition for all futsal played under FIFA's Laws. On 8 October 2026 it was still the edition in force; national associations such as Futsal Canada list 2025-26 as the current Laws.
What changed about accumulated fouls in futsal?
Since 2025-26, a foul that is punished with a penalty kick is no longer recorded as an accumulated foul. Law 12.1 now ends: "no accumulated foul is recorded when a penalty kick is awarded". Before, the same foul cost the penalty and added one to the team's count. Fouls punished with a direct free kick still count, and from the sixth each gives a 10 m kick.
Who gets the dropped ball in futsal?
The team that had, or would have gained, possession when the referees stopped play. If the referees cannot tell, it goes to the team that last touched the ball. If play stopped in the defending team's penalty area with the attackers in possession, it is dropped for an attacker on the penalty-area line. Every other player stays at least 2 m away.
Can you challenge the goalkeeper in futsal?
Not while the goalkeeper controls the ball with the hands or arms. The 2025-26 Futsal Laws add to Law 12.2: "A goalkeeper cannot be challenged by an opponent when in control of the ball with the hand(s)/arm(s)." Doing so is penalised with an indirect free kick. A goalkeeper playing the ball with the feet can be challenged like any other player.
How long can a futsal goalkeeper hold the ball?
Four seconds in their own half, whether the ball is held in the hands or controlled with the feet; more than that gives the opponents an indirect free kick. The eight-second limit with a corner kick, introduced in 2025-26, belongs to the IFAB Laws for eleven-a-side football. The Futsal Laws contain no eight-second rule.
How many video support challenges does a futsal team get?
As many successful challenges as it likes, and one unsuccessful challenge in each half. A team gets one more unsuccessful challenge in extra time and, since 2025-26, one more in the penalty shoot-out. Unused challenges do not carry over, and once a timeout has been granted, a team cannot challenge an incident from before it.
What does DFKSAF mean in futsal?
A direct free kick beginning with the sixth accumulated foul: the kick a team concedes for its sixth accumulated foul in a half and every one after. It is taken from the 10 m mark, or from the place of the foul if that was closer to goal, with no wall, and the kicker must try to score directly. The Laws now call the spot the 10 m mark.