Snow Soccer

 Welcome to Ukkohalla all teams, fans and players! There will be almost 70 teams and 1000 players fighting for Snow Soccer World Championships 2012. The program of the tournament and the announcement of the tournament will be published soon.

History

The frozen Lake Syväjärvi has been used as a wintertime snow soccer match arena since 2000, when the very first snow soccer tournament was played. Back then, the weekend carried the banner of Finnish Championships and saw participation by only 17 teams.

Already the following year the competition achieved European Championship status, and since 2002 Ukkohalla has been the venue for the battle for the World Championship title with 40 men’s and 10 women’s teams. The 2007 World Championships were the sixth in the history of the insanely fun sport.

Rules 

The event is played with good and respectable sporting spirit. Any teams not behaving in a sporting manner may be dismissed from the championship. The jury passes rulings on dismissals and the duration of such.
POINTS AND GAMES

  • 3 points for a win
  • 1 point for a draw (a group series game may also end in a tie)
  • no points for losing a match

If teams in the group series end with the same number of points, victory will be decided on the basis of:

  1. results of reciprocal matches
  2. goal difference

A game in the semi-finals that ends in a draw will have a penalty shootout:

  • three (3) shots per team
  • if no result is achieved after three (3) shots, sudden death will be used

Playing Kit

  • Players may not play without a shirt.


Rules that differ from regular soccer rules

  • Playing time 2 x 8 minutes. If the match started late, it will end no later than two minutes before the start of the next match, in order to avoid all the schedules changing.
  • Size of pitch 60 x 35 m
  • Use of boots with replaceable studs forbidden
  • Corner kicks, penalty kicks and sideline "throw-ins" are taken as hand-held kicks
  • No offside rule
  • The penalty area is approximately 5 metres from the goal line upfield
  • The number of players permitted per team is 1 + 5. Each team must have at least 4 players on the pitch
  • In mixed teams, a minimum of two (2) women should be playing at the same time (neither can be playing as goalkeeper)
  • No restrictions for the number of substitutions. The number of changes is not limited either, and they may be performed without stopping
  • All free kicks, corner kicks and sideline kicks are indirect
  • Goals scored by the goalkeeper's goal kick will not be accepted

Return rule

  • If the ball is passed back to the goalkeeper after the goalkeeper starts the game, the goalkeeper may not handle the ball before an opponent has had contact with the ball, or the ball has entered the attacking area.

Competition Jury

  • Competition Director Kimmo Kyhälä
  • Jury Representative Risto Karjalainen
  • Competition Office Manager Petteri Widemark
  • Organiser's Representative Tiina Ruotsalainen

Each player is responsible for ensuring he/she has the appropriate insurance cover.

All rights to alterations reserved.