Football is a game played by foot with a ball. This game is played with two teams, each team consists of 11 players. This game is played on a rectangular grass field. It is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world. The object of the game is to score by rolling the ball into the opposing goal. In this game only goalkeepers can use their hands or arms to advance the ball. The team with the most goals by the end of the match wins. Football is internationally governed by the Fédération Internationale de Ftbol Association. The most prestigious international football competition is the World Cup, held every four years. The game is played using a round ball (football). In this game a goal is scored when the entire ball crosses the goal line between the goal posts. A draw is when both teams score the same amount of goals during the allotted time.
According to Wikipedia : Association football, more commonly known as simply football or soccer, is a team sport played with a spherical ball between two teams of 11 players. It is played by approximately 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies, making it the world's most popular sport.
All About Football, there Rules and History
History of Football :
Historically, the earliest traces of the game were in a practice from a military manual in Han Dynasty China in the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC. At the time, football was called tsu' chu and involved hitting a leather ball filled with feathers and hair. The posts were made of long bamboo canes. Another variation of the game can be found in neighboring Japan - the Japanese Kamari. This game, which started after about 500-600 years, is still being played today. The only major difference between Tsu Chu and Camari is that the latter lacks the competitive element of the former which involves minimal struggle for possession. The game involves a group of players standing in a circle and passing the ball to each other without touching the ground. Games that revolve around kicking the ball have been played in many countries throughout history. According to FIFA, "the earliest form of the game for which there is scientific evidence was the practice of precisely this skillful technique in the second and third centuries BCE in China." In addition, the Roman game Harapastum may be a distant ancestor of football. Various forms of football were played in medieval Europe, although the rules varied greatly according to both the period and the location. The object of the game was to score the ball by crossing the opponent's boundary line. This involved players passing the ball among themselves, with trickery being the order of the day. The sport gained popularity for 700–800 years before the Romans took it to Britain. The game originated from a primitive game of rugby played in America in the 1840s. The game was played professionally in 1895. The National Football League (NFL) began in the early 1920s. Today, football is one of the most popular sports in the United States.
According to Wikipedia : Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is rooted in medieval ball games and English public school games. The modern game of association football originated with mid-nineteenth century efforts between local football clubs to standardize the varying sets of rules, culminating in formation of The Football Association in London, England in 1863. The rules drafted by the association allowed clubs to play each other without dispute, and specifically banned both handling of the ball (except by goalkeepers) and hacking during open field play. After the fifth meeting of the association a schism emerged between association football and the rules played by the Rugby school, later to be called rugby football. Football has been an Olympic sport ever since the second modern Summer Olympic Games in 1900.
Rules of Football :
There are 11 players in each team.
Each team must have one player as the goalkeeper.
The game begins with a coin toss, and the winning captain decides which goal to defend or take the first kick.
A match consists of two halves of 45 minutes with a rest period of 15 minutes in between. Pitches can vary in size but should be 100-130 yards long and 50-100 yards wide. The pitch should be marked with a rectangular shape around the outside, two six-yard boxes, two 18-yard boxes and a center circle. A penalty space must also be visible within 12 yards of both the goal and center circle.
The circumference of the ball should be 58-61 cm and it should be of a circular shape.
Each game must consist of a referee and two assistant referees.
If the game requires extra time as a result of both teams being tied in a match, 30 minutes will be added as two halves of 15 minutes after the allotted 90 minutes.
The entire ball must cross the goal line in order to be scored as a goal.
If a ball goes out of the opponent's play in either side line, it is awarded as a throw-in. If it goes out of play for an attacking player at the base line, it is a goal kick. If it comes to a defending player it is a corner kick.
The game is controlled by a central referee and two linesmen. They award free kicks and penalties for breaking the rules. A player may be sent out for frequent breaking the rules or for bad fouls.