Rules
Futsal timekeeper and third referee: what the table officials do
Under FIFA's Futsal Laws 2025-26, the timekeeper runs the stopped clock, the one-minute time-outs and every two-minute numerical reduction, and sounds the end of each period. The third referee keeps the record: players, goalscorers, cautions, time-outs and each team's accumulated fouls, signalling the fifth. Both sit at a table level with the halfway line.
Who sits at the table, and who does what
A futsal match is controlled by two referees on the pitch, and up to three assistant referees may be appointed to sit off it: a third referee, a fourth referee and a timekeeper (Law 6.1 of FIFA's Futsal Laws of the Game 2025-26, effective 5 September 2025, the edition every law number here refers to). They sit level with the halfway line on the same side as the substitution zones. The timekeeper stays seated at the timekeeper's table; the third and fourth referees may work seated or standing. The association or club running the match supplies the chronometer and the equipment for recording accumulated fouls.
The split is simple once it is laid out: the timekeeper owns time and signals, the third referee owns the record and the benches.
| Official | Owns | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| Timekeeper | The chronometer and the acoustic signal | Starts and stops the clock with play; puts goals, accumulated fouls and the period on the scoreboard; signals and times each one-minute time-out; signals a team's fifth accumulated foul; times each two-minute numerical reduction; sounds the end of each period |
| Third referee | The record and the benches | Records the players taking part, goalscorers' numbers, time-outs requested, each team's accumulated fouls per period, and players cautioned or sent off; hands out the time-out and substitute-entry documents; checks substitutes' equipment and players coming back on; supervises the technical areas |
| Fourth referee, if appointed | Back-up | Replaces the third referee, and the timekeeper if needed; carries a manual chronometer; records every incident and reports misconduct the referees did not see |
For international matches a third referee and a timekeeper are mandatory, and the chronometer must time one or more two-minute numerical reductions at once and track each team's fouls per period (Law 6.3). Lower down, one or both may be missing. If the third referee is absent and there is no fourth referee, the timekeeper does the third referee's duties as well (Law 6.2). If neither is present, the referee acts as both (Law 5), and a team official asks the referees directly for a time-out (Law 7.3).
Much of what ranks for the job describes an older game. The rules summaries on futsal.com and football.sassco.co.uk (the second posted for a 2012 tour) have a timekeeper but no third referee at all; The FA's Law 6 page has no fourth referee and still calls the 10 m mark the "second penalty mark". The 2025-26 text is the one to work from.
Running the stopped clock
Futsal is played to stopped time: two periods of 20 minutes of playing time (Law 7.1), so the timekeeper's main job is stopping and starting the chronometer at the right moments. Law 6 lists them. The clock starts after the first kick-off of each period has been taken correctly and stops when the ball is out of play, after a goal, when a free kick or a penalty kick is awarded, when a player is injured, and whenever the referees signal for it.
The restart is the part that is easy to get early. The Practical Guidelines give the moment for each restart, and most are "after the ball is kicked and clearly moves":
| Restart | The chronometer restarts |
|---|---|
| Kick-off, kick-in, corner kick | After the ball is kicked and clearly moves |
| Direct or indirect free kick | After the ball is kicked and clearly moves |
| Goal clearance | After the goalkeeper releases the ball from the hands |
| Penalty kick | After the ball is kicked forwards and clearly moves |
| Direct free kick from the sixth accumulated foul | After the ball is kicked with the intention of scoring directly and clearly moves |
| Dropped ball | After the ball is released by a referee and touches the pitch |
Mistakes have set remedies. If the timekeeper forgets to restart the clock, the referees order the elapsed time added to it. If the chronometer fails, the timekeeper tells the referees and times the rest of the match on a manual chronometer, and the assistant referees tell an official from each team how much time is left.
The end of a period is the timekeeper's call, not the referees'. The acoustic signal, which must sound different from the referees' whistles, ends the period "even if the referees do not signal the end by blowing their whistle" (Law 7.2). The one exception: if a penalty kick or a direct free kick from the sixth accumulated foul is awarded as time runs out, the period ends when that kick is completed. A goal after the signal counts only in that case.
Accumulated fouls: the record and the fifth-foul sign
The third referee keeps each team's accumulated fouls as the referees signal them, period by period, and the totals go into the match report (Law 13.4). Accumulated fouls are the fouls punished with a direct free kick under Laws 3, 4 and 12, with one exception added in 2025-26: "no accumulated foul is recorded when a penalty kick is awarded" (Law 12). The count starts again at zero for the second period, and the second period's count carries on through extra time.
The fifth is the one the table announces. The third referee gives the mandatory signal, pointing at the bench of the team that committed it, and places "a clearly visible sign" on the timekeeper's table; the timekeeper sounds the acoustic signal, after being told by the third referee (Law 6.2). From the sixth accumulated foul in the period, every one gives the opponents a direct free kick without a wall from the 10 m mark, or from where the foul happened if that was nearer goal, or a penalty kick if the foul was inside the offender's own penalty area (Law 13.5).
| Team's count after the foul | The table | The opponents get |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | The third referee records it; the timekeeper updates the scoreboard | A direct free kick, wall allowed; the referees may play advantage |
| 5 | Record, mandatory signal to the bench, sign on the table, acoustic signal | A direct free kick, wall allowed |
| 6 and every later one | Record and scoreboard | A direct free kick from the 10 m mark or nearer, no wall; a penalty kick inside the area |
| A foul punished by a penalty kick | Not recorded as an accumulated foul (2025-26) | The penalty kick |
Advantage complicates the record. The referees may play on after a foul only if the offending team has not already reached five and the opponents are not denied a goal or an obvious chance (Law 13.4); when they do, they signal the accumulated foul to the table once the ball is out of play. If a team on four commits a fifth and advantage is played, the third referee still puts the fifth-foul sign out.
Two things the ranking pages get wrong. Futsal.com and football.sassco.co.uk both say that from the sixth foul "all free kicks shall be direct (no indirect free kicks)": the Laws say no such thing, and an offence punished by an indirect free kick is still an indirect free kick, whatever the count. And none of the three, nor the keepthescore post on futsal scoring, says that a foul giving a penalty kick no longer counts, the 2025-26 change most likely to put a table's foul count out by one.
Time-outs: the document and the moment
Each team has one one-minute time-out in each period, none in extra time, and a time-out not taken in the first period is lost (Law 7.3). Before each period the third referee hands each team's officials a document, printed TIMEOUT in four languages in the Laws, and collects it at the end if it was not used. A team official asks for the time-out by submitting it to the third referee, or to the timekeeper if there is no third referee.
The request is not granted at once. The timekeeper grants it "when the ball is out of play and when the team that has requested it will take the restart or receive a dropped ball", using the acoustic signal; the third referee then gives the mandatory signal, pointing at that team's bench. The timekeeper times the minute and signals its end. The Guidelines recommend that competition rules provide a warning signal 10 to 15 seconds before the end, but substitutions may only be made after the final signal.
During the minute the players may stay on the pitch or leave it, and must leave it to drink; substitutes stay off, and team officials may not give instructions on the pitch.
The two-minute numerical reduction and the entry slip
A player sent off after kick-off cannot come back, and the team plays a player short until it has served a two-minute numerical reduction: two minutes of playing time, timed by the timekeeper (Law 3.8). A substitute may then come on with the authorisation of the timekeeper or the third referee. The third referee hands the team a document saying exactly when: "The substitute may enter the pitch when there is/are ___ minute(s) and ___ second(s) left on the chronometer before the end of the ___ period."
Because the clock is stopped while the card is shown, filling in the slip is subtraction. A sending-off with 12:34 left on the chronometer means entry at 10:34 left in the same period; one with 1:20 left in the first period runs on into the second, since the two minutes are playing time, and the slip reads 19:20 left in the second period.
A goal can end the reduction early, and which goal matters (Law 3.8):
| On the pitch | Goal scored by | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 5 against 4, or 4 against 3 | The team with more players | The short team may add one player at once |
| 5 against 3 | The team with five | The team with three may add one player only |
| 4 against 4, or 3 against 3 | Either team | Nothing: each team serves its own two minutes |
| Any | The team with fewer players | Nothing, unless the other team scores in the meantime |
Futsal.com's version, "after 2 minutes of playing time (3 minutes running clock) or after the opposing team scores — whichever comes first", is half right: the running-clock figure is a local league's, and a goal ends the reduction only in the cases above. A team that falls below three players has the match abandoned (Law 3.1), so the table also watches how many each side has left.
Goals, cards and the back-up record
The third referee writes down what the referees signal, and the Guidelines say how it reaches the table. After a goal, the referee nearest the timekeeper's table approaches it and gives the scorer's number with the mandatory signal. After a caution or a sending-off, the referee who showed the card goes towards the table and signals the player's number from the halfway line, about 5 m away. The third referee records the name and number of every player cautioned or sent off, and signals to the referees "when an obvious error has been made in cautioning or sending off a player", such as a second caution not followed by a red card. The referees still decide.
All of the assistants keep "back-up records of time, goals, accumulated fouls and misconduct". The third referee also records stoppages for outside interference and their reasons. If the match goes to kicks from the penalty mark, the timekeeper resets the scoreboard to 0-0 and records each kick, and every match official notes the kicks taken and the numbers of the players who took them.
When the table sounds the signal
The acoustic signal is the table's only way to get the referees' attention, and the Guidelines limit it to the situations where it is mandatory:
| Signal | When |
|---|---|
| End of a period | First period, second period, each period of extra time |
| Time-out requested | When the ball is out of play and the requesting team has the restart |
| End of a time-out | After the minute |
| Fifth accumulated foul | When a team commits its fifth in the period |
| Incorrect behaviour | By substitutes or team officials |
| Substitution breach | A substitution not made by the procedure |
| Disciplinary error | An obvious error by the referees in cautioning or sending off |
| Outside interference | Anything from outside the match |
A signal sounded by mistake has its own rule: if the referees think it interfered with play they stop it and restart with a dropped ball; if not, they signal to play on. The timekeeper may also sound the signal at the start of a period, after one of the referees has whistled.
What to bring to the table
Everything above has to be written down or timed at the moment it happens. A table without a full electronic scoreboard needs:
- a chronometer that can be stopped and started, and a manual one in reserve;
- a second timer for the one-minute time-outs and the two-minute numerical reductions, or one that runs several at once;
- the team lists and a match record sheet for goals, cards, time-outs and stoppages;
- each team's time-out document and a supply of substitute-entry slips;
- a way of showing each team's accumulated fouls, and the fifth-foul sign;
- an acoustic signal that sounds different from the referees' whistles.
Simple Online Counter is a free, browser-based set of counters, and its futsal score counter keeps the parts of the job that are counts and clocks on one screen: goals, each team's accumulated fouls per period with the fifth flagged, the time-outs left, and each two-minute numerical reduction against the players on the pitch. It records what you tap and does not replace the official match report.
Frequently asked questions
What does a timekeeper do in futsal?
The timekeeper runs the chronometer for the two 20-minute periods of playing time: starting it after each kick-off, stopping it whenever the ball is out of play, after a goal, a free kick or a penalty is awarded, or an injury. The timekeeper also signals and times the one-minute time-outs, signals a team's fifth accumulated foul, times each two-minute numerical reduction and sounds the end of each period (Law 6).
What does the third referee do in futsal?
The third referee keeps the match record and watches the benches: the players taking part, goalscorers' numbers, time-outs requested, each team's accumulated fouls in each period and the names and numbers of players cautioned or sent off. The third referee also checks substitutes' equipment, gives the mandatory signals for a time-out and a fifth foul, and replaces the second referee if one is injured (Law 6).
How many timeouts are allowed in futsal?
One one-minute time-out per team in each period, and none in extra time. A time-out not used in the first period does not carry over, so a team still has only one in the second. A team official asks the third referee for it on the document provided, and the timekeeper grants it when the ball is out of play and the requesting team has the restart (Law 7.3).
When does the clock stop in futsal?
Whenever the ball is out of play. The timekeeper also stops the chronometer after a goal, when a free kick or a penalty kick is awarded, when a player is injured and whenever the referees signal for it. It restarts when play is correctly resumed, for most restarts when the ball is kicked and clearly moves, so each period is 20 minutes of playing time, not 20 minutes of clock on the wall.
What happens after 5 fouls in futsal?
At the fifth accumulated foul in a period the third referee signals it and puts a visible sign on the table, and the timekeeper sounds an acoustic signal. From the sixth, every accumulated foul gives the opponents a direct free kick from the 10 m mark, or from the spot if nearer goal, with no wall, or a penalty kick if committed inside the penalty area (Law 13.5).
Does a penalty kick count as an accumulated foul in futsal?
No, not since the 2025-26 Futsal Laws. Law 12 now says "no accumulated foul is recorded when a penalty kick is awarded". Earlier editions counted it, and several pages still say so. Fouls punished by a direct free kick still count, and the sixth and later ones in a period still give the direct free kick without a wall.
When can a sent-off player be replaced in futsal?
After the team has played two minutes of playing time short, with the authorisation of the timekeeper or third referee, unless a goal ends the reduction early. A goal by the team with more players lets the short team add one player; a goal when both are short, or by the short team, changes nothing (Law 3.8). The third referee hands the team a slip showing when the substitute may enter.
Can a futsal match be played without a timekeeper?
Yes, outside international matches, where a third referee and a timekeeper are mandatory (Law 6.3). Without them the referee acts as timekeeper and third referee (Law 5), and a team official asks the referees directly for a time-out (Law 7.3). If only the third referee is missing and no fourth referee is appointed, the timekeeper takes over the third referee's duties (Law 6).