Manchester Charity Shield

RULES

1. Tournament matches will be played straight through without a break

2. Only 5 players will be permitted on the pitch at any one time, one of whom will be the goalkeeper

3. Up to 8 team players only may be named for a match, who must be available for inspection by the referee prior to the match starting. Players can only play for one team during the event. Any players found playing for more than one team shall be disqualified

4. Teams must be attired in similar colours. Players must provide their own footwear including shin pads. Jewellery must be removed

5. The entire team must be behind the ball at kick off

6. The game will begin with one team taking the kick off from the centre, decided by the toss of a coin. A centre kick may be played in any direction and a goal may be scored direct from the centre

7. All players are allowed inside the area however, a goal can only be scored from outside the goal area and within the field of play

8. The goalkeeper must return the ball into play by rolling it out of his area with an under arm bowling action. A goalkeeper failing to do this will be penalised with an indirect kick being awarded against him 2 metres outside the area

9. The ball may not be returned to the goalkeeper until at least 2 other players have touched it. An indirect free kick will be awarded against the goalkeeper 2 metres outside the area where a defender returns the ball directly back to him

10. A keeper who deliberately leaves the area in an attempt to gain an advantage, or plays the ball outside the area under any circumstance, will be penalised with the awarding of a penalty against him

11. Teams may not change their keeper more than once during a match and must gain the referees permission to do so

12. Substitutions can be made on a rolling basis (i.e. substitutions can be used as often as required). All substitutions must first be authorised by the referee and only made when the ball is out of play

13. If any team is reduced to 3 players due to misconduct, the game will be awarded to their opponents with a score of 6-0, or the result at the time the game ended should the goal difference be greater

14. The ball may not be played above head height. Head height is the height of the boards

15. The ball will remain in play if after rebounding off the keeper, posts, crossbar or kick boards, or when the ball inadvertently goes above head height

16. The award of an indirect free kick will be given for the following offences:

ball played over head height
goalkeeper not returning the ball underarm
obstructing an opponent
heading the ball
player returning the ball directly back to the keeper after receiving the ball from him

17. A player who commits any of the following offences will have a direct free kick awarded against him:

charges an opponent
body checks or slide tackles
holding the fences
any contact by a defending player towards an attacking player whilst in the corners of the pitch

18. A player may not stand closer than 2 metres from the ball when defending a free kick. Contravention of this rule will result in the kick being taken again from the place where the defending player stood at the time the kick was taken. Free kicks must be taken 2 metres from the boards / goal area

19. Penalty kicks will be taken with a one step rule

20. Violent conduct on or off the pitch will result in immediate suspension of the individual concerned for the duration of the game

21. Persistent contravention of the rules in the first instance will result in a player spending a period of 2 minutes in the sin bin. For any further offences a player will be subject to a formal caution (yellow or red card if deemed necessary). Any bookings made will be submitted to the FA by the referee

22. When the ball is played into the corners of the pitch, the player who retrieves the ball will be allowed to take the ball out unhindered by the opposition. A defending player who makes contact with the ball player will have a direct free kick awarded against him. The ball player will have no more than 5 seconds to bring the ball back into play. NB Referee's have been instructed to allow only minimum contact on all other areas of the kick boards

23. Match lengths will be as follows:

Group stage: 8 minutes
Quarter-finals: 10 minutes
Semi-finals: 10 minutes
Final: 12 minutes

24. Teams must have a minimum of 3 players adjacent to the pitch 5 minutes before the scheduled kick off time

25. If teams arrive late for a match, the following penalties will apply:

For each minute the team is late they will forfeit a one goal advantage (i.e. if a team turns up two minutes late they will start the game 2-0 down), this will apply for up to three minutes
If a team is late, the number of minutes they are late will be taken away from the total time of the match
If a team is late by more than 3 minutes they will concede the game and the opposing team will be awarded a 6-0 victory

26. Points during the Group Stage will be awarded as follows:

Win: 3 points
Draw: 1 point
Loss: 0 points

27. The teams finishing in the top two positions in the Group Stage will progress to the knockout stage. If teams have the same number of points the following criteria (in order) will be used to decide who progresses to the knockout stage:

Head to head record
Goal difference
Goals scored
If all these are equal then the team to progress will be decided by a coin toss

28. If games finish level during the knockout stage a penalty shootout consisting of 3 penalties a side will determine who wins. If the game remains undecided after 3 penalties then each team will continue to take penalties until one team misses. Players cannot take a second penalty until all team members have taken a penalty