7-a-side grassroots football regulation template (2026)

Tournament regulations are the one document an organizing committee can point at when two teams disagree. Without it, every dispute — an unregistered player, how to rank teams level on points, how long a red card suspension runs — becomes a verbal negotiation. This is a complete 7-a-side grassroots football regulation template, ten sections, written to be copied and adapted in fifteen minutes.

1. Name and organizer

State the full name of the tournament, the year, the lead organizer and any partners. The name goes on the trophy, the backdrop and every document afterwards — lock it early.

2. Purpose

Three sentences is enough: fitness, community, talent identification. This section matters when the tournament needs funding approval or a booking at a public facility.

3. Eligibility

This is where most disputes start. Be explicit:

• Who may play: staff, employees, union members, students living, working or studying in the area.
• Age limits, if any.
• Each athlete may register for exactly one team for the whole tournament. Leave this out and teams will borrow players.
• Documents: a photocopy of ID, checked before the first match.

4. Registration

Maximum 15 people per team, including one team manager and one coach. Close registration at least seven days before the opening match so there is time to draw groups and print the schedule.

Squad lists must include shirt numbers. Duplicate numbers inside one squad are the single most common cause of a botched match report.

5. Format

Three options, chosen by team count and how many days of pitch time you have:

• Single round robin — under 8 teams. Every team plays the same number of matches; fairest, but the most pitch time.
• Groups then knockout — 8 teams and up. The default for grassroots events.
• Straight knockout — when you only have one or two days. Losers go home early, which costs you goodwill.

The regulations must state: how many groups, how many teams per group, how many advance from each group, and what happens when the groups are uneven.

The free group draw and knockout bracket tools generate the diagram for your team count so you can paste it straight into the document.

6. Laws of the game and match length

• The current Vietnam Football Federation 7-a-side laws apply.
• Two halves of 30 minutes, with a 10-minute interval.
• Substitutions: unlimited, and players may return. Spell this out — it is the biggest difference from the 11-a-side game.
• A drawn knockout match goes straight to five penalties. No extra time.

7. Points and ranking

Three points for a win, one for a draw, none for a defeat. When two teams are level, the tiebreakers must be written as an ordered list — never as the phrase "on secondary criteria":

1. Head-to-head result
2. Goal difference across the group
3. Goals scored
4. Disciplinary points (fewer ranks higher)
5. Drawing of lots

This is the section most often left blank, and the section that generates the most protests. For how to apply it — including three teams level on points — see Teams level on points.

8. Discipline

• Second yellow in a match: red card, off.
• Straight red: at least a one-match ban, with the committee free to extend it.
• Withdrawal or fielding an unregistered player: 0-3 loss, and all results voided if the fraud was deliberate.

Name the person who decides. It is the committee chair, not the referee.

9. Prizes

A typical structure: winner, runner-up, one or two third places, with a trophy, pennant, medals and prize money. Individual awards: top scorer, best goalkeeper, player of the tournament.

If the budget is confirmed, put the actual figures in the document. Vagueness here erodes trust in the committee faster than anything else.

10. Protests

Protests must be in writing, signed by the team manager, submitted within 30 minutes of the final whistle, with a fee that is refunded if the protest is upheld. The committee's decision is final.

After the regulations

The regulations are half the job. The other half is a schedule and a standings table that actually match them — the same tiebreaker order, the same number of teams advancing.

Matchup builds the tournament in the format you choose, generates the fixtures and the table, applies the exact tiebreaker order you wrote into your regulations, and gives you one public link to drop into the group chat. Create a tournament for free.