Time, Timeouts and the Clock

A futsal match is played in two equal periods of twenty minutes of playing time, the clock stopped whenever the ball is not in play.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.1 · recall

The two 20-minute periods may be shortened where the competition rules permit it; an agreement between the referee and the teams is not what the Law relies on.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.1 · applied

An appointed timekeeper keeps the official time and closes the period with an acoustic signal.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · recall

The period ends when the timekeeper's acoustic signal sounds, even if the referees have not yet whistled.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · applied

With no timekeeper, the referees keep the time themselves and end the period with their whistle.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · recall

Each period is twenty minutes of actual playing time; the clock is stopped whenever the ball is out of play so stoppages do not shorten it.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.1 · applied

Without a competition rule permitting shorter periods, the default of two equal 20-minute periods applies.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.1 · recall

Unlike football's running clock with added time, futsal stops the clock itself whenever the ball is not in play.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.1 · applied

The period is twenty minutes of playing time, kept by stopping the clock during stoppages rather than counting elapsed wall-clock time.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.1 · recall

The timekeeper's acoustic signal must be distinct from the referees' whistle, so everyone can tell it specifically marks the period ending.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · recall

A period is extended to allow a penalty kick already awarded to be taken or retaken.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · recall

Like a penalty kick, a direct free kick from the sixth-foul mark already awarded extends the period until it is completed.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3 · recall

Extra time past the scheduled twenty minutes is reserved for a penalty kick or a sixth-foul free kick already awarded; a corner kick isn't on that list.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3 · applied

The Law reserves the extension for two live awards, a penalty kick and the sixth-foul direct free kick; an ordinary free kick isn't one of them.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3 · applied

The extension covers completing the kick and its immediate phase of play, such as a rebound while the ball remains in play from it.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3 · applied

Both are direct chances to score already awarded before time ran out, so the Law extends play to let them be completed rather than lost to the clock.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3 · applied

The extension lasts until the awarded kick is completed, which includes a retake ordered for an infringement during it.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3 · applied

The extension exists only to let the awarded kick and its immediate phase play out; once that concludes, the period ends.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3 · recall

A period is extended past its scheduled twenty minutes only to complete these two restarts once they have been awarded; every other restart simply lapses if the clock runs out first.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7 · recall

The extension turns on which restart was awarded, a penalty kick or a sixth-foul free kick, not on the scoreline or how badly a team wants more time.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3 · applied

Team officials are authorised to request a one-minute timeout, from the third referee or, if there is none, the timekeeper.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4 · recall

A timeout is granted only when the ball is out of play and the requesting team is about to take the restart or receive the dropped ball.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4 · applied

A team that does not request its timeout in the first period is entitled only to the one timeout during the second period, not carried over.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4 · recall

There are no timeouts during extra time, if played.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4 · recall

Play has to actually stop, and stop with that side next in line for the restart, before a shouted request turns into a granted timeout.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4 · applied

It isn't enough for the ball to be dead; the team asking has to be the one that is actually about to put it back into play.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4 · applied

A team is entitled to one one-minute timeout per period, so using it once in each period is the full normal-time allowance, not an overuse.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4 · applied

Requests normally go to the third referee, or to the timekeeper when there is no third referee; if neither is appointed, a team official asks the referees themselves.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4 · applied

Requesting more forcefully doesn't change anything; the timeout still waits on the ball going out of play with that team next to restart.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4 · applied

An unused timeout does not carry over; a team that skips it in the first period is still limited to one timeout in the second, and none in extra time.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4 · applied

Law 7 caps the half-time interval at fifteen minutes, with competition rules stating its exact length within that cap.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5 · recall

Any length up to the fifteen-minute ceiling is fine; twelve minutes is comfortably inside it.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5 · applied

There is no interval between the two periods of extra time; the teams change ends and play resumes.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5 · recall

Although there is no full interval between extra-time periods, a drinks break of up to one minute is still allowed.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5 · applied

An abandoned match is replayed by default, unless competition rules or the organisers determine otherwise.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5 · recall

The default is a replay, but competition rules or the organisers may determine a different outcome instead.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5 · applied

With no competition rule addressing it, an abandoned match defaults to being replayed rather than decided on the score reached.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5 · applied

It is the duration, not the existence of the break, that is left to competition rules — an interval happens regardless.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5 · recall

The one-minute timeout is granted during a period's play; it is a separate mechanism from the half-time interval that follows the period regardless.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4–7.5 · applied

The half-time interval is capped at fifteen minutes; between the extra-time periods there is no interval, the teams simply change ends, with at most a short drinks break of up to one minute.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4 · recall

Only a penalty kick, or a sixth-foul free kick, already awarded extends a period; an unused timeout has no bearing on that.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3–7.4 · applied

The second period's one-minute timeout is a separate entitlement that exists regardless of whether the first period's was used, since an unused one simply doesn't carry over.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4 · applied

Extra time drops the timeout entirely but keeps the same extension rule for an awarded penalty kick or sixth-foul free kick.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3–7.4 · recall

The timekeeper's signal ends a period immediately unless a penalty kick or sixth-foul free kick has already been awarded, in which case play is extended to complete it.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2–7.3 · applied

Whatever happened in the first period, its own single entitlement is what governs the second — nothing is added or lost for skipping it.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4 · applied

Without a competition rule saying otherwise, an abandoned match is replayed; nobody's judgement of who was "winning" enters into it.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5 · applied

The extension rule is a short, named list of two restarts; anything not on that list, corner kicks included, simply doesn't qualify.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3 · recall

A one-minute timeout applies during a period's play; once the period-ending signal has sounded there is no period left in which to grant it.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 & 7.4 · applied

The stopped clock, the narrowly-defined extension and the timeout all exist to protect a fixed amount of actual playing time from being eaten by stoppages.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7 · recall

Competition rules must state the exact length of the half-time interval, which may not exceed fifteen minutes; the one-minute timeout and the one-per-period allowance are fixed by the Laws.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7 · recall

The kick is completed when the ball stops moving or goes out of play, when a player other than the defending goalkeeper plays it, or when play is stopped for an attacking offence. A parry by the goalkeeper is none of these.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · applied

Once any player other than the defending goalkeeper plays the ball, the kick is completed, and a period extended for it ends there, whatever happens next.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · applied

When the referees stop play for an offence by the kicker or a team-mate, the kick counts as completed, so an extended period ends without any further restart.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · applied

If a player of the defending team commits an offence before the kick is completed, the referees order a retake or award a further kick as appropriate, and the period lasts until that is completed.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · applied

A goal scored after the end of the period is allowed only when the period was extended to complete a penalty kick or a direct free kick from the sixth accumulated foul.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · recall

Periods are extended only for a penalty kick or a direct free kick from the sixth accumulated foul; no other restart, wherever it is taken, keeps the period going.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · applied

Each period ends when its designated playing time has elapsed, the periods of extra time included, and the same extension for a penalty kick or sixth-foul free kick applies to them.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · recall

Grey's number 1 is the defending goalkeeper, whose touch does not complete the kick. A touch by any other player, the kicker included, completes it and ends the period.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · applied

The goalkeeper's parry does not complete the kick. A defending player's offence before the kick is completed leads to a further penalty kick, and the period ends only once that kick too has been completed.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · applied

The sixth accumulated foul came before the signal, so the period was extended for grey's free kick. It is completed as soon as a player other than the goalkeeper plays the ball, here the defender whose deflection sent it out.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · applied

The timekeeper starts the chronometer after the first kick-off of the period has been taken correctly, that is when the ball is kicked and clearly moves.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 and Practical Guidelines, Law 7 · recall

The timekeeper stops the chronometer whenever the ball is out of play, and also after a goal, after a penalty kick or free kick has been awarded, and after a player has been injured.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 and Practical Guidelines, Law 7 · applied

At a penalty kick the chronometer restarts after the ball is kicked forwards and clearly moves, in accordance with the procedure.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 and Practical Guidelines, Law 7 · recall

For a dropped ball the chronometer restarts after the ball is released from a referee's hands and touches the pitch.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 and Practical Guidelines, Law 7 · recall

The timekeeper stops the chronometer after a player has been injured and restarts it only once play has been correctly resumed.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 and Practical Guidelines, Law 7 · applied

This free kick must be taken with the intention of scoring directly, and the chronometer restarts once the ball has been kicked that way and clearly moves.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 and Practical Guidelines, Law 7 · recall

Besides the fixed moments, the timekeeper stops the chronometer whenever the referees signal to do so.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 and Practical Guidelines, Law 7 · applied

For a goal clearance the chronometer restarts after the goalkeeper releases the ball from the hands; the ball does not have to leave the penalty area.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 and Practical Guidelines, Law 7 · applied

The chronometer is stopped after a goal; the team that conceded restarts with a kick-off, and the chronometer runs again once the ball has been kicked and clearly moves.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 and Practical Guidelines, Law 7 · applied

Here the trip leads to a free kick: the clock halts at the award and runs again from the moment the kicker's touch sets the ball clearly moving.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 and Practical Guidelines, Law 7 · applied

A signal sounded by mistake stops play only if the referees consider it interfered with play; if it did not, they give clear signals to play on.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7 and Practical Guidelines · applied

When a review concerns a chronometer incident, the referee tells the timekeeper the correct time and the chronometer is adjusted before play restarts.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 5, video support · applied

Video support may be used to check whether the ball entered the goal before the acoustic signal for the end of the period; unless the period was extended for a penalty or sixth-foul kick, a goal after it does not count.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 5, video support · applied

Video support may be used if the chronometer malfunctions or has been incorrectly started or stopped, as well as to check whether a goal came before the end-of-period signal.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 5, video support · recall

If there is neither a third referee nor a timekeeper, a team official may ask the referees for the timeout.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3 · applied

The referees review the replay footage directly, and the referee makes the final decision.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 5, video support · recall

The initial decision stands unless the replay shows a clear and obvious error or a serious missed incident.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 5, video support · recall

If the timekeeper forgets to start the chronometer after a stoppage, the referees order the elapsed time to be added: forty seconds on from 08:14 is 08:54.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7 and Practical Guidelines · applied

If a mistaken signal interferes with play, the referees stop play and restart it with a dropped ball, which is live once it touches the pitch.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7 and Practical Guidelines · applied

If no signal from the timekeeper comes, the referees confirm that the playing time has elapsed and end the period with their own whistle.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 · applied

The timekeeper records the goals, the accumulated fouls and the periods of play on the public scoreboard, if one is available.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 · recall

Among the third referee's duties is keeping a record of the timeouts requested; the timekeeper times them.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 · recall

Before each period the third referee hands each team's officials the document with which they can request a timeout.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 · recall

The third referee collects the timeout documents at the end of each period if no timeout has been requested.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 · recall

After a sending-off the third referee hands the team's officials a document showing the time on the chronometer at which a substitute may enter the pitch.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 · recall

The acoustic signal is an essential signal, to be used only when necessary to gain the attention of the referees.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Practical Guidelines, acoustic signal · recall

The timekeeper performs the specific duties of the third referee if the latter is absent and no fourth referee is appointed.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 · recall

White had four accumulated fouls, so this is its fifth. When the referees apply the advantage, the third referee places a clearly visible sign for the fifth accumulated foul on the timekeeper's table.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 6 and Practical Guidelines · applied

The timekeeper times a team's two-minute numerical reduction. If no goal is scored meanwhile, a substitute may enter once the two minutes have elapsed, with the authorisation of the third referee or the timekeeper.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Laws 3 and 6 · applied

It is recommended that a signal sounds ten to fifteen seconds before the one that ends the timeout, so the teams are ready; substitutions may be made only after the end of the timeout has been signalled.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Practical Guidelines, Law 7 · applied

The two periods of twenty minutes of playing time may be reduced only if the competition rules permit it.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.1 · recall

National FAs, confederations and FIFA may modify the duration of the periods, and of the periods of extra time, for youth, veterans', disability and grassroots futsal.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7 and Modifications to the Futsal Laws · recall

National FAs, confederations and FIFA have the flexibility to decide the age restrictions for youth and veterans' futsal.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7 and Modifications to the Futsal Laws · recall

Competition rules must state the duration of the half-time interval, which may not exceed fifteen minutes.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4 · recall

The half-time interval set by the competition rules may be altered only with the referees' permission, and never beyond fifteen minutes.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4 · applied

The modifications allowed for youth, veterans', disability and grassroots futsal include the duration of the periods, but not the number of players, timeouts or the foul count.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7 and Modifications to the Futsal Laws · applied

Extra time consists of two equal periods not exceeding five minutes each, their length stated by the competition rules.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 10.2 · recall

The first period has just reached its fifteen minutes, so the whole second period of fifteen minutes is still to play.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7 and Modifications to the Futsal Laws · applied

The drinks break at half-time in extra time should not exceed one minute; here each period of extra time is three minutes, six together, and the interval ten.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7 and Modifications to the Futsal Laws · applied

Fifteen-minute periods make thirty minutes; a standard match is forty; three-minute extra-time periods add six, and extra time at its longest adds ten, making fifty.

Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7 and Modifications to the Futsal Laws · applied