Football
Not to be confused with any [1]American pseudosport.
Football is one of the most famous [2]sport [3]games in which two teams
face each other and try to score goals by kicking an inflated ball. It is
one of the best sports not only because it is genuinely [4]fun to play and
watch but also because of its essentially simple rules, accessibility (not
for rich only, all that's really needed is something resembling a ball)
and relatively low discrimination -- basically anyone can play it, unlike
for example basketball in which height is key; in amateur football even
fat people can take part (they are usually assigned the role of a
goalkeeper). [5]Idiots call football soccer.
We, [6]LRS, highly value football, as it's a very [7]KISS sport that can
be played by anyone anywhere without needing expensive equipment. It is
the sport of the people, very popular in poor parts of the world.
Football can be implemented as a video [8]game or inspire a game mode --
this has been done e.g. in [9]Xonotic (the Nexball mode) or
[10]SuperTuxKart. There is a popular mainstream [11]proprietary video game
called Rocket League in which cars play football (INB4 zoomers start
calling football "Rocket League with people"). There is also a greatly
suckless [12]pen and paper version of football called [13]paper football.
Rules
As football is so widely played on all levels and all around the world,
there are many versions and rule sets of different games in the football
family, and it can sometimes be difficult to even say what classifies as
football and what's a different sport. There are games like futsal and
beach football that may or may not be seen as a different sport. The most
official rules of what we'd call football are probably those known as Laws
of the Game governed by International Football Association Board (IFAB) --
these rules are used e.g. by FIFA, various national competitions etc. Some
organizations, e.g. some in the [14]US, use different but usually similar
rules. We needn't say these high level rules are pretty complex -- Laws of
the Game have over 200 pages and talk not just about the mechanics of the
game but also things such as allowed advertising, political and religious
symbolism, referee behavior etc.
Here is a simple ASCII rendering of the football pitch:
C1_________________________________________C2
| : |
| : |
|........ : ........|
| : : : |
|.... : : : ....|
__| : : : : : |__
|G : : : : : : : G|
|1 : : : O : : : 2|
|__: : : : : : :__|
|...: : : : :...|
| : : : |
|.......: : :.......|
| : |
| : |
|____________________:____________________|
C3 C4
In amateur games simpler rules are used -- a sum up of such rules follows:
* There are two teams of players facing each other in a match,
officially 11 players on each team (10 "normal" players and one goal
keeper), but of course this can wildly differ in just for fun games
(street rules may also state that there is no fixed goal keeper; goal
keeper is the one currently closest to own goal, or there may simply
be no goal keeper at all, especially with small goals). Each team
usually wears different colors so they're easily distinguished.
* The match is played on a flat rectangular field (officially between
100x64 and 110x75 meters, but for fewer player this can of course be
much smaller) where there are two goals in the center of the shorter
sides. Each team has one goal (which may be as simple as two shoes
marking the goal borders) into which the opponent team tries to score
goals.
* There is one ball in the game, players move the ball by kicking it
with their feet -- they may use other body parts too except for their
arms. The exception is goal keeper who may touch the ball also with
his arms and hands, but only within the small area near the goal he
protects. If no ball is available other things resembling it may be
used.
* The game starts with both teams on their half of the field, one is
given the possession of the ball (this is usually decided by coin
toss, but sometimes e.g. one team is given the choice of goal and
other one gets the ball).
* If the ball ends up in one team's goal, the opposite team scores a
point and the game is restarted.
* If the ball leaves the play field on one of the longer sides, the team
who's player didn't touch the ball last gets a throw-in -- one player
takes the ball in his hands and throws it to the play field from the
point at which the ball left the field. If a game is played in an
environment which the ball cannot leave (e.g. a small sport hall),
this rule is simply ignored.
* If the ball leaves the play field on one of the shorter sides, then
two things may happen. If the ball was last touched by the team whose
goal is on the side at which the ball left the field, the opposite
team gets a corner kick (a free kick from the nearest corner of the
field). Otherwise the goal keeper of the goal on the side where the
ball left the play field gets a kick off from near his goal.
* Offside: this is the infamous rule that [15]women don't get. This rule
basically states that it is illegal for a player to get the ball while
he's on the opponent's half and at the time the ball started to be
passed to him he was closer to the opponent's goal than the second to
last opponent's player (usually the back-most defender). This is so
that one player doesn't just camp in front of the opponent's goal and
wait for a long pass to score and easy goal. However in fun games this
rule may be just ignored.
* There are punishments for breaking the rules (e.g. playing with arm,
attacking the opponent player or stalling the game) which include a
free kick (from the spot at which an offense happened), a penalty kick
(one player gets a free kick on the opponent's goal with goal keeper
from certain distance), yellow card (warning to a player), red card
(given after yellow card, the player has to leave the game) etc.
* The game is played in two halves, each one officially 45 minutes long,
but in fun games the number of parts and their duration is pretty
arbitrary. After the first half there is a short rest pause and the
teams switch sides. After the second half whichever team has scored
more points wins. If the score is equal, the match may be prolonged as
a tie breaker, either just by adding more time or playing the instant
death. If no winner is decided here, there may eventually be penalty
kicks to decide the winner.
* It's good if there's a referee, but if there is none, players just
enforce the rules collectively.
See Also
* [16]hockey
* [17]handegg
Links:
1. usa.md
2. sport.md
3. game.md
4. fun.md
5. usa.md
6. lrs.md
7. kiss.md
8. game.md
9. xonotic.md
10. supertuxkart.md
11. proprietary.md
12. pen_and_paper.md
13. paper_football.md
14. usa.md
15. woman.md
16. hockey.md
17. handegg.md