1)Players Are male or female and at least 16 years old (must have turned 16 before 01.07.2007) and Are or have been homeless at some point after the Homeless World Cup 2006 (01.10.2006), in accordance with the national definition of homelessness or Make their main living income as streetpaper vendor or Are asylum seekers (who have neither positive asylum status nor working permit) or Are currently in drug or alcohol rehabilitation and have been homeless at some point in the past two years (post 01.08.2005) Have taken part only one time in a previous Homeless World Cup. (2) Teams Teams can be all male, all female or mixed Maximum of 4 players per team on the court: - 3 outfield players - 1 goalkeeper - plus 4 substitute players ('flying' or 'rolling' substitutions apply) (3) Duration of matches 2 x 7 minutes including change of ends (4) Start The match starts when the referee throws the ball into the court. When a goal is scored, the team that has conceded the goal receives the ball and the goalkeeper is allowed to bring the ball back into play immediately after the referee's whistle. (5) Goalkeeper Rules A goalkeeper must not score goals The goalkeeper must not leave the penalty area The goalkeeper must not hold the ball longer than necessary in his penalty area (“playing for time”) The pass back rule applies. If a goalkeeper picks the ball up with his hands after receiving a pass back from a team mate the other team is awarded a penalty (6) Rules for Penalty Area Outfield players must not enter the penalty area. This rule applies to both attacking and defending players ("fishing for the ball" is not allowed) If a player from the defending team enters the penalty area, the other team receives a penalty If a player from the attacking team enters the penalty area, the other team receives a free kick (7) Penalty Kicks A penalty for the opposing team is given when: A player from the defending team enters the penalty area A team passes back three times in a row directly to their own goalkeeper with the intention of time wasting (without a player from the opposing team having had the chance to touch the ball) If the goalkeeper holds the ball longer than necessary in his penalty area (“playing for time”) If the goalkeeper picks up the ball with his hands when he receives a back pass from a player on his own team Due to foul play in front of the goal area A penalty kick must be taken towards the goal. If the ball moves backwards from the goal the penalty is lost (8) Rules for Free Kicks and Out Balls - Free Kicks All free kicks are indirect. All players of the opposing team must be a minimum of 2 metres from the ball when a free kick is being taken. The referee awards a free kick for: All fouls on the field except for any offence, which is seen as a "penalty offence" If a player holds the perimeter board with both hands - Out Balls If a ball goes out of play over the board the ball must be rolled in by hand at ground level at the position where the ball went out of the field of play. All players of the opposing team must be a minimum of 2 metres from the ball at the roll-in point If a ball goes out of play on behind the goal: By the attacking team: the goalkeeper receives the ball and kicks or throws the ball back in By the defending team: the attacking team receives a corner and rolls the ball in by hand at ground level. All players of the opposing team must be a minimum of 2 metres from the roll-in corner (9) Fouls In the event of a foul or unfair play the referee may judge as follows: Blue card (two minutes time exclusion): For foul play a player can be excluded from the match for two minutes during which time the team has to play with one less player. Red card (match penalty): For serious foul play a player is excluded from the rest of the match. The team has to play with one less player for the remainder of the match. The player who has received the red card will also be excluded from the next match. Exclusion from the tournament for a team: If rules are seriously breached (heavy foul play, foul play on purpose, unacceptable behaviour on the court towards the referees, the audience or other players), one player or a team can be excluded from the tournament. If a whole team is excluded from the tournament then all the matches played or scheduled to be played by that team will be awarded to the opposition with a 0:3 score line (10) Tournament Points The winning team receives 3 points. The losing team zero. If a match ends in a draw, it is decided by a sudden-death penalty shoot out until one team has a one goal lead after both teams have taken the same number of penalty kicks. In matches decided by a penalty shoot out the winning team gets three points and the losing team gets one point. (11) Group Stage Rankings In group stages rankings are decided by: Points Goal difference: goals scored minus goals conceded. Any goals scored or conceded in penalty shootouts are not included in the calculation of goal difference. Number of scored goals Direct match results between two teams who cannot be separated by the above rules (12) Reserve Team At each annual competition the host nation will select a full reserve team consisting of 10 players including 2 goalkeepers. They will wear the colours of their national team during the parade: Each morning of the competition, the manager of any team can ask to have a player from the reserve team if they have three or more of their players injured or unavailable. The names of the injured players must be submitted in writing to the sports director. They are not allowed to play during that day The manager from the reserve team will select players on a strict rotational basis. Teams cannot demand one particular player from the reserve team. This will allow reserve team players to participate. Reserve team players wear the national strip of the team they are playing for Players are only available during that day. The selection process is followed in exactly the same way in subsequent days. It is likely, that a team applying for reserve players on consecutive days will be allocated the same reserve player Reserve players can play for teams who are playing against the home nation. For example, a player selected from the reserve team can play against South Africa The host country will have additional players on stand by in the eventuality that all of the reserve team is needed by other teams. The sports director will make an assessment at the end of each day about the likely demand for reserve team players during the following day The reserve team will all receive medals plus a special cup. They will go up together as a team to collect the cup and their medals at the final ceremony (13) Referees Each match will have three referees. Two referees will be positioned at either end of the playing court. The senior referee will be free to move around as he or she sees fit. (14) Homeless World Cup Court Proportions Size of court: 22 (long) x 16 (wide) metres Goal size: 4 m wide x 1.30m height, depth approx. 1 m Penalty area: half circle with 4m radius Height of boards: 1.10m Net: behind both goal-sides is a net which is 3m in height Place for players: 2 players benches at the long side of court Entrance for players: 2 separate entrances at the long side Size of ball: normal