Walking Football BelgiumLess speed, just as much passion.
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Official rulesThe full laws

On the home page we sum up the essentials in six rules. Here are the full laws of walking football, law by law, as applied in competition. For anything not covered here, the standard laws of football apply.

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Laws 1 and 2

Pitch and goals

  • Rectangular pitch, with or without barriers around it.
  • 5 or 6-a-side: 25 to 50 m long, 16 to 35 m wide.
  • 7-a-side: 50 to 60 m long, 30 to 40 m wide.
  • Penalty area: a semi-circle with a 6 m radius drawn from the middle of the goal line.
  • Penalty mark 6 m from goal, centre circle with a 3 m radius.
  • Goals: 3 to 5 m wide, 1.20 m to 2 m high.
  • The ball suits the group and is only changed with the referee's permission.

Laws 3 and 4

Players and equipment

  • 5, 6 or 7 per team including the goalkeeper, with up to 5 substitutes.
  • Unlimited substitutions: a substituted player may come back later.
  • A substitute only enters once the outgoing player has fully left the pitch.
  • Kit: shirt with sleeves, shorts or tracksuit trousers, socks, shin guards, footwear suited to the surface.
  • No jewellery. A wedding ring that cannot be removed must be covered.
  • Sports glasses and soft padded protection are allowed.

Laws 5 to 7

Referee and duration

  • The referee enforces the laws, and decisions on facts of play are final.
  • The referee may play advantage when the fouled team benefits.
  • A match is played in 2 to 4 equal periods of 5 to 30 minutes each.
  • The break between periods is no longer than 5 minutes.
  • Time is extended if a penalty kick still has to be taken.

Law 18

Always walking

  • Walking means always having at least one foot in contact with the ground.
  • The rule applies to every player, with or without the ball, goalkeeper included.
  • Running or jogging: indirect free kick to the opponents, unless the referee plays advantage.
  • Not-walking offences add up per team: on the 4th, a penalty to the opponents, then the count resets to zero.

Law 9

Ball height

  • The organiser sets a maximum height: never below the crossbar, never above 2 m.
  • Ball too high: indirect free kick where it was played.
  • Exception: if the ball rises from a goalkeeper's save, the goalkeeper gathers it and restarts play.
  • The ball is out of play when it wholly crosses a line, on the ground or in the air.

Law 12

No contact

  • Walking football is a non-contact game. Take particular care with contact from behind or alongside.
  • Penalised: charging, pushing, holding, tripping, tackling, jumping at an opponent.
  • Also banned: sliding tackles, playing the ball while on the ground, heading.
  • Deliberately handling the ball is an offence.
  • Impeding an opponent without contact, or playing dangerously, is also penalised.
  • All these offences give an indirect free kick to the opponents.

Laws 12, 14 and 16

Penalty areas and goalkeeper

  • The penalty area belongs to the goalkeeper: outfield players stay out.
  • A defender deliberately entering their own penalty area: penalty.
  • An attacker entering the opponents' penalty area: goal clearance.
  • A goalkeeper deliberately leaving the penalty area: penalty.
  • The goalkeeper keeps the ball no longer than 6 seconds, in hand or at their feet.
  • They cannot receive the ball straight back from the team-mate they just passed to.
  • The goalkeeper cannot score, except in kicks from the penalty mark.
  • A goalkeeper offence in the penalty area gives an indirect free kick 3 m from the penalty area line.

Laws 13 and 14

Free kicks and penalties

  • All free kicks are indirect: the ball must touch another player before going in.
  • Opponents stand at least 3 m from the ball.
  • An attacking free kick near the penalty area is taken 3 m from the area line.
  • Penalty from the 6 m mark, with a run-up of no more than 2 m, ball kicked forward.
  • The goalkeeper stays on the line until the kick. Other players stay 3 m away, outside the penalty area.
  • Feinting once the run-up is complete is punished with a blue card.

Laws 8, 15 to 17

Restarts

  • Kick-off from the centre, opponents 3 m away. No goal directly from kick-off.
  • Kick-in, or an underarm roll-in. No goal directly.
  • Corner from the nearest corner, opponents 3 m away. A goal may be scored directly.
  • Goal clearance by hand underarm or by foot: the ball must leave the penalty area. No goal directly.
  • On a pitch with barriers there are no kick-ins or corners: the goalkeeper restarts.
  • No offside in walking football.

Law 12

Cards and sin bins

  • Blue card: temporary suspension of 2 to 5 minutes, set by the organiser.
  • It covers unsporting behaviour, dissent, persistent offences, not respecting the 3 m or delaying the restart.
  • Denying a goal or an obvious chance with a foul or handball: blue card and penalty.
  • Red card: permanent dismissal, for serious foul play, violent conduct, spitting, abusive language or a second card.
  • A dismissed player takes no further part, not even on the bench.
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