# Time, Timeouts and the Clock · Futsal Level 2: Elementary

Futsal · Level 2: Elementary · Insporta Book (https://book.insporta.app/futsal/level-2/time-timeouts-and-the-clock/)

Time, Timeouts and the Clock in Futsal (Level 2: Elementary) on Insporta: 50 sourced facts behind 5 tests. Covers: periods and the clock; and more.

This sub-level teaches the mechanics of Law 7 in more procedural depth than L1 touched it — that the match clock stops whenever the ball is out of play rather than running continuously, when and why a period is extended (only to complete a penalty kick or a sixth-foul free kick already awarded), and the one-minute timeout's exact conditions: who may request it, when the timekeeper grants it, why a team that skips it in the first period does not carry it to the second, and why there are none in extra time.

## Test 1: Periods and the Clock

- A futsal match is played in two equal periods of twenty minutes of playing time, the clock stopped whenever the ball is not in play. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.1)
- The periods last twenty minutes unless the referee and the two teams mutually agree otherwise. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.1)
- An appointed timekeeper keeps the official time and closes the period with an acoustic signal. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2)
- The period ends when the timekeeper's acoustic signal sounds, even if the referees have not yet whistled. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2)
- With no timekeeper, the referees keep the time themselves and end the period with their whistle. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2)
- Each period is twenty minutes of actual playing time; the clock is stopped whenever the ball is out of play so stoppages do not shorten it. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.1)
- Without a mutual agreement to change it, the default is two equal twenty-minute periods. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.1)
- Unlike football's running clock with added time, futsal stops the clock itself whenever the ball is not in play. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.1)
- The period is twenty minutes of playing time, kept by stopping the clock during stoppages rather than counting elapsed wall-clock time. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.1)
- The timekeeper's acoustic signal must be distinct from the referees' whistle, so everyone can tell it specifically marks the period ending. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2)

## Test 2: Extending a Period

- A period is extended to allow a penalty kick already awarded to be taken or retaken. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3)
- Like a penalty kick, a direct free kick from the sixth-foul mark already awarded extends the period until it is completed. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3)
- Extra time past the scheduled twenty minutes is reserved for a penalty kick or a sixth-foul free kick already awarded; a corner kick isn't on that list. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3)
- The Law reserves the extension for two live awards, a penalty kick and the sixth-foul direct free kick; an ordinary free kick isn't one of them. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3)
- The extension covers completing the kick and its immediate phase of play, such as a rebound while the ball remains in play from it. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3)
- Both are direct chances to score already awarded before time ran out, so the Law extends play to let them be completed rather than lost to the clock. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3)
- The extension lasts until the awarded kick is completed, which includes a retake ordered for an infringement during it. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3)
- The extension exists only to let the awarded kick and its immediate phase play out; once that concludes, the period ends. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3)
- Extra time past the whistle-scheduled twenty minutes is reserved for exactly these two live awards; every other restart simply lapses if the clock runs out first. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3)
- The extension turns on which restart was awarded, a penalty kick or a sixth-foul free kick, not on the scoreline or how badly a team wants more time. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3)

## Test 3: The One-Minute Timeout

- Team officials are authorised to request a one-minute timeout, from the third referee or, if there is none, the timekeeper. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4)
- A timeout is granted only when the ball is out of play and the requesting team is about to take the restart or receive the dropped ball. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4)
- A team that does not request its timeout in the first period is entitled only to the one timeout during the second period, not carried over. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4)
- There are no timeouts during extra time, if played. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4)
- Play has to actually stop, and stop with that side next in line for the restart, before a shouted request turns into a granted timeout. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4)
- It isn't enough for the ball to be dead; the team asking has to be the one that is actually about to put it back into play. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4)
- A team is entitled to one one-minute timeout per period, so using it once in each period is the full normal-time allowance, not an overuse. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4)
- The Law names the third referee, or the timekeeper if there is no third referee, as who receives the request — a match with neither has no named recipient. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4)
- Requesting more forcefully doesn't change anything; the timeout still waits on the ball going out of play with that team next to restart. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4)
- An unused timeout does not carry over; a team that skips it in the first period is still limited to one timeout in the second, and none in extra time. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4)

## Test 4: Half-Time and Abandoned Matches

- Law 7 caps the half-time interval at fifteen minutes, with competition rules stating its exact length within that cap. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5)
- Any length up to the fifteen-minute ceiling is fine; twelve minutes is comfortably inside it. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5)
- There is no interval between the two periods of extra time; the teams change ends and play resumes. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5)
- Although there is no full interval between extra-time periods, a drinks break of up to one minute is still allowed. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5)
- An abandoned match is replayed by default, unless competition rules or the organisers determine otherwise. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5)
- The default is a replay, but competition rules or the organisers may determine a different outcome instead. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5)
- With no competition rule addressing it, an abandoned match defaults to being replayed rather than decided on the score reached. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5)
- It is the duration, not the existence of the break, that is left to competition rules — an interval happens regardless. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5)
- The one-minute timeout is granted during a period's play; it is a separate mechanism from the half-time interval that follows the period regardless. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4–7.5)
- The half-time interval is capped at fifteen minutes; between extra-time periods there is no interval to cap, since the teams simply change ends. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5)

## Test 5: Putting It Together

- Only a penalty kick, or a sixth-foul free kick, already awarded extends a period; an unused timeout has no bearing on that. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3–7.4)
- The second period's one-minute timeout is a separate entitlement that exists regardless of whether the first period's was used, since an unused one simply doesn't carry over. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4)
- Extra time drops the timeout entirely but keeps the same extension rule for an awarded penalty kick or sixth-foul free kick. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3–7.4)
- The timekeeper's signal ends a period immediately unless a penalty kick or sixth-foul free kick has already been awarded, in which case play is extended to complete it. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2–7.3)
- Whatever happened in the first period, its own single entitlement is what governs the second — nothing is added or lost for skipping it. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.4)
- Without a competition rule saying otherwise, an abandoned match is replayed; nobody's judgement of who was "winning" enters into it. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.5)
- The extension rule is a short, named list of two restarts; anything not on that list, corner kicks included, simply doesn't qualify. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.3)
- A one-minute timeout applies during a period's play; once the period-ending signal has sounded there is no period left in which to grant it. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7.2 & 7.4)
- The stopped clock, the narrowly-defined extension and the timeout all exist to protect a fixed amount of actual playing time from being eaten by stoppages. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7)
- Competition rules may set the half-time interval's exact length up to the fifteen-minute cap; the two twenty-minute periods themselves change only by mutual agreement between the referee and both teams. (Source: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26, Law 7)

Sources: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025/26 (approved by the Bureau of the FIFA Council, effective 5 September 2025) for every rule. Free to download but not open-licensed, so questions are authored in original wording, never reproduced. A specific clause reference sits in each question's source field, never in the stem.

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