Section 5: Rules of Play
Duration (Law 7, Sections 1 and 4). A match lasts two equal periods of 20 minutes of playing time; the clock is stopped by the timekeeper whenever the ball is out of play. Players are entitled to a half-time interval not exceeding 15 minutes.
Timeouts (Law 7, Section 3). Each team is entitled to one one-minute timeout per period, requested by a team official through the third referee or timekeeper. A team that does not use its timeout in the first period is only still entitled to one timeout in the second period — the entitlement does not carry over as two.
Kick-off (Law 8, Section 1). A kick-off starts each period and restarts play after a goal. All opponents of the team taking the kick-off must remain at least 3m from the ball until it is in play, and the ball must be stationary on the centre mark. A goal may be scored directly from a kick-off.
No offside (Law 11). There is no offside law in futsal.
Ball in and out of play (Law 9, Sections 1 through 3). The ball is out of play once it has wholly crossed a touchline or end line (on the ground or in the air), when the referees stop play, or when it hits the ceiling of an indoor facility. If the ball hits the ceiling while in play, the match restarts with a kick-in for the opponents of the team that last touched it, taken from the point on the touchline nearest to where the ball struck the ceiling.
The kick-in (Law 15, Sections 1 and 2). A kick-in replaces the throw-in used in the 11-a-side game and is awarded to the opponents of the player who last touched the ball before it crossed a touchline. The ball must be stationary on the touchline, all opponents must stand at least 5m away, and the kicker must put the ball into play within four seconds of being ready or of the referee's signal. A goal cannot be scored directly from a kick-in — if the ball enters the opponents' goal directly, a goal clearance is awarded instead.
Goalkeeper four-second rule (Law 12, Section 2). An indirect free kick is awarded against a goalkeeper who controls the ball with the hands, arms or feet in their own half of the pitch for more than four seconds. A goalkeeper is considered in control whenever the ball is held in an outstretched hand, bounced, thrown in the air, or dribbled by hand or foot, and cannot be challenged by an opponent while in that control.
Back-pass restriction (Law 12, Section 2). An indirect free kick is also awarded if, after having played the ball into controlled possession anywhere on the pitch, the goalkeeper touches it again in their own half after a team-mate has deliberately played it to them, without an opponent playing or touching it in between; there is no disciplinary sanction attached to this offence.