Sources we write from

Insporta questions are authored from primary sources: the rulebooks of each sport’s governing body first, then the playing conditions and competition rules that modify them, then technical reports, reference works and coaching literature for tactics, craft and history. Every question cites its source. Nothing is reproduced: a question is original wording written from an understanding of the source, and the source is named beside the explanation, never in the question itself.

Authored from, never reproduced

Most rulebooks are free to download and none of them is open-licensed; the FIFA futsal Laws, for example, state that they may not be reproduced without permission. Insporta’s practice is the same for every source, licensed or not: learn from it, paraphrase in original wording, write an original question, and cite the clause. A question never quotes a Law, and a stem never refers to “the document” or “the text”, for the reasons in A question must stand on its own. The source field reads “IFAB Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 12” or “MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 21”, and that is where a learner or a reviewer goes to verify.

Football

The IFAB Laws of the Game are the authority, cited by edition and Law: 2025/26 for content written against that edition, 2026/27 where a question was written after the newer edition took effect. Editions matter because the Laws change every July; the goalkeeper’s eight-second limit and its corner-kick sanction came in on 1 July 2025 and replaced the six-second rule, and a question says which edition it follows. The Laws of the Game ladder on this site is written entirely from the IFAB text.

For tactics, analytics and history, the sources are UEFA and FIFA technical reports, the metric definitions published by Opta and StatsBomb, and the coaching literature on the school or system in question. A tactical question cites the report or the reference it was authored from, and a metric such as expected goals is pinned to the provider’s definition.

Futsal

Two FIFA publications. The FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, approved by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and effective 5 September 2025, are the source for the rules. Futsal’s Laws are not on the annual IFAB cycle, so this is the current edition, and a question cites it by Law and clause. The FIFA Futsal Coaching Manual, published in 2025, is the source for technique, positions, tactics and the sport’s history, cited by chapter. Where craft is not pinned down in the manual, the citation says general futsal coaching, so that a reader knows the claim rests on practice rather than on a document.

Cricket

The MCC Laws of Cricket, 2017 code, 3rd edition of 2022, are the Laws themselves, cited by Law number. The ICC Playing Conditions for each format override the Laws for international cricket and are where format differences live: over rates, powerplays, bouncer limits, the review system, substitutes and concussion replacements. A statement that is correct under the Laws can be wrong for a one-day international, so every question that turns on a format says which source it is citing and which format it means. For competitions, history and records, ESPNcricinfo and Wisden are the references, with a date on every figure.

Triathlon

The World Triathlon Competition Rules and the Ironman competition rules are the two rulebooks, and they differ from each other: draft-zone dimensions, pass times, penalty durations and cut-off times change between the two and by race distance. A question teaches how a rule works and says that the athlete guide for the specific event is the authority on the numbers; content that defers to the athlete guide is correct, not incomplete. Training, nutrition and physiology draw on coaching reference works, sports-nutrition position stands and the sports-medicine literature, cited as such, with contested positions marked as contested, see Evidence, claims and safety.

What a citation does for the learner

The source is shown with the explanation after an answer, so a learner who disagrees with a key can go to the clause and read it. That is also how a fact checker works: every question is verified by a person against the source it cites, and every fact confirmed or corrected that way goes into the sport’s public register, see Fact-checking and quality gates and the registers for football, cricket, futsal and triathlon.

Sources

• IFAB, Laws of the Game, editions 2025/26 and 2026/27: theifab.com
• FIFA, Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, and FIFA Futsal Coaching Manual (2025): fifa.com
• MCC, The Laws of Cricket, 2017 code (3rd edition, 2022): lords.org/mcc/the-laws-of-cricket
• ICC Playing Conditions for Test, ODI and T20 international cricket
• World Triathlon Competition Rules: triathlon.org
• Ironman Competition Rules
• ESPNcricinfo and Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack for competitions, history and records
• UEFA and FIFA technical reports, Opta and StatsBomb metric definitions, and coaching literature for tactics and craft