Purpose

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain the duration rules under Law 7 and the correct procedures for starting and restarting play under Law 8.

Lesson Explanation

Law 7 (Duration of the Match) sets two equal halves of 45 minutes, subject to mutual agreement to adjust, plus a half-time interval not exceeding 15 minutes. The referee is the sole authority for allowances made for time lost — commonly called “added time” or “stoppage time” — covering substitutions, assessment/treatment of injuries, wasting time, disciplinary sanctions, and other delays, at the referee’s discretion.

A genuinely important detail connecting to a 2025/26-era Law refinement covered further in Part 6, Lesson 5: a player who receives on-field assessment/treatment, or whose injury causes play to be stopped, must — barring certain exceptions — leave the field and remain off it for one minute after play restarts, a rule aimed at discouraging the use of injury treatment to waste time.

Law 8 (Start and Restart of Play) governs the kick-off (used to start each half, and after a goal is scored) and the dropped ball (used to restart play after a temporary stoppage with no other restart specified, such as serious injury with the ball in play, or interference by an outside agent) — the dropped ball’s specific procedure is covered fully in Part 3, Lesson 6.

At kick-off, all players must be in their own half, opponents must be at least 9.15m from the ball until it is in play, and the ball must be stationary on the center mark; it is in play once it is kicked and clearly moves. A goal cannot be scored directly from a kick-off — the ball must touch another player before entering the goal.

Practice Questions