Regulations of the 2010 FIFA World Cup

By Jadavchandra Haobam *

The various rules governing the 2010 FIFA World Cup are very complicated and consist of 50 Articles to cover both the Preliminaries and Finals. However, only the following rules will be of interest to the general public :

Withdrawal, penalty for failing to play and replacement (in Swiss Franc) :
1. Withdrawing between the preliminary draw and the start of the preliminary competition - a fine of CHF 20,000.
2. Withdrawing after the start of the preliminary competition - a fine of CHF 40,000.
3. Withdrawing no later than 30 days before the start of the final competition - a fine of CHF 250,000 - 500,000
4. Withdrawing less than 30 days before the start of the final competition, or during the final competition itself - a fine of CHF 500,000 -1,000,000.

Disciplinary matters :
1. Disciplinary incidents are dealt with in compliance with the FIFA Disciplinary Code.
2. FIFA may introduce new disciplinary rules and sanctions and these shall be communicated to the teams at least one month before the first match of the Cup.

Disputes :
1. All disputes in connection with the FIFA World Cup™ shall be promptly settled by negotiation.
2. Parties may not take disputes to an ordinary court of law but to the exclusive jurisdiction of FIFA.
3. Once all internal channels have been exhausted at FIFA, their sole recourse shall be to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
4. Any disputes between FIFA and the Organising Association shall be settled as stipulated in the Organising Association Agreement (OAA) reached at between FIFA and the Organising Association.

Protests :
1. Protests are objections of any kind related to events or matters that have a direct effect on matches of the cup including but not limited to the state of and markings on the pitch, accessory match equipment, eligibility of players, stadium installations and footballs.
2. Protests regarding the state of the pitch, its surroundings, markings or accessory items (eg goals, flag posts or footballs) shall be made in writing to the referee before the start of the match. If the pitch's playing surface becomes unplayable during a match, the captain of the protesting team shall immediately lodge a protest with the referee in the presence of the captain of the opposing team. (However, this rule has not been applied in Indian domestic competitions).
3. Protests against any incidents that occur during the course of a match shall be made to the referee by the team captain immediately after the disputed incident and before play has resumed, in the presence of the captain of the opposing team. (This rule has also not been applied in Indian domestic competitions)
4. No protests may be made about the referee's decisions regarding facts connected with play. Such decisions are final.
5. Once the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South AfricaTM has ended, any protests described in this article will be disregarded.

List of players—preliminary competition :
1. Each association shall send a provisional list of at least 50 prospective players no later than 30 (thirty) days before its first qualifying match. Further players may be added at any time but no later than the day before the qualifying match in question.
2. 18 players shall be entered on the list of players (11 players and 7 substitutes). The numbers on the players' shirts must range 1-18 only.
3. If a group holds all of its qualifying matches in one venue (in the form of a tournament), up to 23 players may be entered on the list of players (11 players and 12 substitutes).

List of players—final competition :
1. Each association shall send a provisional list of 35 players to FIFA at least 30 days prior to the kick-off of the opening match.
2. Each association will then be required to provide FIFA with a final list of no more than 23 players (3 of whom shall be goalkeepers). Only the numbers 1 to 23 will be used with number 1 being reserved exclusively for one of the goalkeepers.
3. A player listed on the final list may only be replaced in the event of serious injury up until 24 hours before the kick-off of his team's first match.
4. All 23 players shall be named on the list of players for each match (11 selected players and 12 substitutes). Up to a max. of 3 of the substitutes may participate in the match.
5. Not more than 23 people (11 officials and 12 substitutes) shall be allowed to sit on the substitutes' bench.

Venues, kick-off times and training sessions—preliminary competition :
1. In principle, the venue is to be located at a maximum distance of 150 km, or a two-hour drive, from the nearest international airport.
2. The associations shall arrange for their representative teams to arrive at the venue no later than the evening before the date the match is due to be played.
3. On the day before the match the visiting team is entitled to have one training session of 45 (forty-five) minutes on the pitch where the match is due to take place.
4. The matches may be played in daylight or under floodlight. Matches may be played at night if the whole pitch is evenly lit to at least 1,200 lux.

Dates, arrival etc at the venues for final competition matches :
1. Each team shall have a rest period of at least 48 hours between each match.
2. The teams will be entitled to one 60-minute training session in the stadium where they are due to play on the day before their match.
3. Each team taking part in the final competition shall arrive in the host country at least 5 (five) days before its first match. Only official team hotels under contract shall be used for the teams' accommodation.

Stadiums, fields of play—final competition :
1. The pitch shall have the following dimensions : length 105m, width 68m.
The total surface area shall have the following dimensions : length 125m, width 80m, in order to provide sufficient space for warm-up areas and pitch-side photographer positions.
2. If a stadium has a retractable roof, the FIFA match commissioner and the FIFA general coordinator, in consultation with the referee and the two teams, shall decide before the match whether the roof shall be open or closed during the match. If the match starts with the roof closed, it shall remain closed for the entire match. If the match starts with the roof open and there is a serious deterioration in the weather conditions, the match commissioner and the referee have the authority to order its closure during the match. In such an event, the roof is to remain closed until the end of the match.
3. Smoking is not permitted in the technical area during matches.

Footballs—final competition :
1. Adidas Jabulani is the official match ball of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. For your kind information, it may be added that these balls are made in China, using latex bladder from India, thermoplastic polyurethane-elastomer from Taiwan, ethylene vinyl acetate, isotro-pic polyester/cotton fabric, glue and ink from China.
2. Each team will receive 25 training balls from FIFA immediately after the final draw as well as 25 additional training balls upon arrival in the host country. Only these balls may be used for warm-up sessions in the official stadiums and at the official training sites.

Equipments :
1. FIFA shall organise a kit-day session, which all participating member associations are obliged to attend. All equipment (kits, gloves, bags, medical equipment etc) may be on display within the stadium, the training grounds, the hotels etc.
2. As far as possible, each team shall wear its official colours as declared on the official team colour form. If the two teams' colours and the referees' colour might cause confusion, in principle, team A in the official match schedule will be entitled to wear its official team kit and team B will use its reserve team kit.

Flags and anthems—final competition :
1. During the final competition, the FIFA flag and the flags of South Africa and both competing associations shall be flown in the stadium at every match. The FIFA Fair Play flag and the UN flag shall also be hoisted or draped in the stadium, clearly visible from the VIP box.

Financial Terms; FIFA will bear the costs of the following : a) A contribution towards the preparation costs incurred by the participating member associations in accordance with a set tariff to be fixed in due course by the FIFA Organising Committee;

The total prize money on offer for the tournament was confirmed by FIFA as $ 420 million, a 60 per cent increase on the 2006 tournament.
Before the tournament : Each participating team would receive $ 1 million, for preparation costs.
(about Rs. 5 crores in Indian money)
Once at the tournament : Teams exiting at the group stage would receive $ 8 million (about Rs. 40 crores).
Round of 16 : $ 9 million (about Rs. 45 crores).
Quarter-finals : $ 18 million (about Rs. 90 crores).
Semi-finals : $ 20 million (about Rs. 100 crores).
Runners up : $ 24 million (about Rs. 120 crores).
Winners : $ 30 million (about Rs. 150 crores).
Domestic Clubs : FIFA will also pay the domestic clubs of the players representing their national teams at the FIFA World Cup. This would see a total of € 26 million (Euro—about Rs. 180 crore) being paid to domestic clubs, amounting to just over € 1,000 (Euro—about Rs. 70,000) per player per day.

b) Business class air travel costs for 50 people from each participating member association.
c) A contribution towards the costs of board and lodging for 50 people from each participating member association starting five nights prior to each team's first match and ending two nights after its last match.
d) The costs incurred by referees, assistant referees, fourth officials, reserve assistant referees, referee assessors and match commissioners and other members of the FIFA delegation.

Duration of the Knock-out Matches :
1. If, after 90 minutes, a match ends in a draw, extra time of two periods of 15 minutes each will be played. If the score is level after extra time, penalty kicks will be taken to determine the winner.

Trophy, awards and medals :
1. The winning team will be provided with the Trophy during a ceremony immediately following the final whistle, and will return the Trophy to FIFA on demand or prior to departure from South Africa, whichever is the sooner. At this time, the winning team will be provided with the replica trophy.
2. FIFA is responsible for engraving the Trophy with the name of the winning team.
3. Fifty medals will be presented to each of the top three teams in the final competition.
4. A fair play contest will be held during the final competition, for which FIFA will draw up special regulations. The FIFA Organising Committee will determine the ranking at the end of the final competition. Such decisions are final.
5. At the conclusion of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, the following special awards will be presented :
a) Fair Play trophy : The FIFA Fair Play trophy, a fair play medal for each player and official, a diploma and a voucher for USD 50,000 (about Rs. 25 lakhs) worth of football equipment (to be used for youth football development) will be presented to the winner.
(In fact, cash prizes must not be encouraged as we do in the CC Meets, State Leagues etc.)
b) Golden, Silver and Bronze Shoes : The Golden Shoe will be awarded to the player who scores the most goals in the final competition. If two or more players score the same number of goals, the number of assists (as determined by the members of the FIFA Technical Study Group) will be decisive.
Each goal is worth three points and each assist one point. If two or more players are still equal after taking into account the number of assists, the total minutes played in the tournament will be taken into account, with the player playing fewer minutes ranked first. (we need such systems to be followed in our grand local tournaments. However, none has this knowledge).
A Silver Shoe and a Bronze Shoe for the second and third highest goalscorers will also be awarded.
c) Golden, Silver and Bronze Balls : The Golden Ball will be awarded to the best player of the final competition on the basis of a vote taken among the media accredited for the event.
A Silver Ball and a Bronze Ball will be awarded to the second and third best players.
d) Best Goalkeeper : A trophy will be awarded to the best goalkeeper in the tournament, as selected by the FIFA Technical Study Group.
e) Most Entertaining Team : The Most Entertaining Team will be chosen by a public poll on FIFA. com.
f) Best Young Player : The decision about how the Best Young Player will be chosen will be taken by FIFA at a later date.