No need for me to state the obvious and say that the biggest difference between this game and the association soccer is that this is played indoor, and that wouldn’t even be 100% accurate. So, let’s have a look at the rules and what made this game so special and popular.

Although rules may vary from country to country, there are several clear difference between indoor and regular soccer. First of all, the field is covered with artificial turf in most cases and it’s much smaller that regular stadiums, which makes this a more fast-paced game. Another factor is the duration of the professional matches – 60 minutes. There are four 15-minute quarters and a 15-minute break after the second quarter and 3 minutes recess after each one. The teams are made of 5 or 6 six players and unlimited substitutions are permitted. Moreover, in some leagues a substitution will be allowed even with the game in progress, as long as both players are not on the field in the same time.

Also, a very important rule of this game is that there is no offside. Although in some leagues there is a three-line violation, most games are played without offside. The filed is divided by 3 lines into 4 sections. Should a player throw or kick the ball over all 3 lines, the opposing team will receive the ball and a free-kick from the middle of the first line. The ball can be played using one or more of the walls, so no penalty will occur in this case. Only if the ball goes over the walls or touches the ceiling, the opposing team will be again awarded a free-kick.

Aside from the red and the yellow card, a blue card is also used for mild penalties and usually leads to the player leaving the filed for a period of 2 minutes. A yellow card means 5 minutes out of the game and the team needs to play with one player less for that period of time and a red card means the team will play for the remainder of the game with one player out. However, unlike regular soccer, it is really hard to get a red card in this indoor variant.