General:

RASL is a recreational adult soccer league for men and women. The purpose of the league is to promote and support adult soccer play in a friendly and family-like environment in the Riverside area. FIFA and USSF rules govern RASL play, except as amended by these rules.

It is the intent of RASL to

• Promote the game of soccer in a spirit of teamwork, fair play and sportsmanship.
• Provide coherent competition among area players and soccer teams.
• Develop and foster interest in soccer in the Southern California area.

These rules are broken into four major areas

• Participation in RASL
• League Operations
• Scoring and points calculations
• Deviations from FIFA and USSF rules

Participation in RASL:

Players and coaches joining RASL must follow any additional guidelines found within these RASL rules.

ROSTER –  All players are required to get registered for each team they play for, sign a waiver and upload a picture online and provide proof of age. (8v8) maximum of 22 players on roster and (11v11) maximum of 25 players on roster. Any changes to the roster before game 8 require a $10 fee.  Unregistered players on a team will be the cause of a forfeit to the team in question.  After the 8th game of the season there shall be NO changes in the team rosters.  

LEAGUE FEES - Payment is due in full before any team is scheduled for the season. Bounced checks will require cash payment, and a $25.00 return check charge in addition to the amount of the NSF check. Returned checks will not be re-deposited. There is a $100 late fee for teams that do not pay by the deadline.

CROSSOVERS – A player will be allowed to switch teams only one (1) time during a season with previous approval from the League Director.  Players are allowed to play in different divisions during the same season as long as they fulfill the age requirements.   

PLAYER RESPONSIBILITIES - A red card issued is expected to carry an automatic 1-game suspension minimum;   A suspended player will NOT be allowed to play on the same day even if he has already paid for his suspension.  Accumulation of 3 straight red cards in the same season will result in suspension from the league for six months, dated from the date of the last card that causes the suspension. The suspended individual must also take and pass a referee training class and provide a letter of completion from the instructor before allowed to re-enter RASL league play.   

MANAGERS MEETING – The league will conduct one mandatory managers’ meeting every season.  Each team is required to be present at this meeting for the entire meeting.  A team can be represented by somebody other than its manager.  One manager can represent 2 teams as long as he/she is part of that team.  Teams that are not represented at this meeting will be penalized with a minus 2 points from the current standings.  Teams that show up late or leave early (10 minutes for more) will also be penalized with minus 1 pt from their current standings.  No exceptions.  This rule was created because it is well known that managers meetings will not be attended by the big majority otherwise.

League Operations:

RASL WEB SITE - RASL operates a web site at http://www.Riversideadultsoccer.com.  The web site provides information on schedules, scores, standings, teams, rules and it’s updated pretty regularly.  For day to day information on league operations, all managers and players should join RASL on Facebook.

SEASONS – RASL will run 4 seasons per year.  The fall season will run from Sept through Dec.  Spring season runs from Jan to April and the summer season will run from May to July and the summer June to Sept.   The All-Star game will take place on early January.

TEAM DIVISION PLACEMENT - Teams will be placed in divisions based on level of experience and participation in the league.  In the given case that there are 2 divisions in the same age group (same day) the winner of the lower division will be moved up to the upper division and the team that ends in last place of the upper division will be moved down to the lower division.

FINALS - At the end of the regular season, the top four teams will advance to the play-offs. If there are 4 teams in a division, all four teams will advance to the play-offs.  In brackets with 8 teams, all teams move on to the play-offs.  Game #10 will become a quarter-final, the lower ranked team MUST beat the higher ranked team in order to move on.  For semi-finals teams will go directly to penalty kicks in case of a tie (with restricted time on weeknights, teams may have to do penalty kicks previous to their game.)  The final games will be 30 min halves and if there is no winner, there will be two 5-minute ‘golden-goal’ halves. If there is no winner, there will be a best of 3 penalty kicks (in coed 1 of the 3 has to be a female player), 10 steps back from the goal line.  If no winner still, teams will continue until somebody wins.  In case that the lights go off and there is no winner still, the game will be decided on a coin-toss.

SCHEDULE CHANGES - Once a season schedule is published to the RASL web site, no changes will be made unless there is an unexpected logistical problem that arises. The only other exception is weather related changes.  If this is the case, all managers will be notified of the change(s) electronically and by Facebook.  Weather and field availability permitting, all teams will play a ten match series each season plus play-offs and a Champions Cup Final between the winners of Temecula & Riverside.

MAKEUP GAMES AND CANCELLATIONS - A match is considered official once the 1st half has been completed.  If play must be halted after the start of play, but before the half is complete, the RASL scheduler will make every attempt to reschedule the shortened game. However, if field, weather or other situations preclude timely rescheduling, the game may not be replayed. If this occurs, the score standing will be used as the final score of the game.  If a play-off game is approved to be rescheduled, the requesting team will be required to pay for the referee fee, plus the field rental fee and the lights cost if game is played under the lights.

FORFEIT - Failure to have a minimum amount of players to show-up (7 for 11v11 or 5 for 8v8) will result in a forfeit for that team. Referees will allow a ten-minute grace period from posted start time to field a team.  The team that wins by default will add maximum points to their division standings 3 points and 3 goals.

PLAYER CONDUCT - Players are responsible for fair, sportsmanlike and polite behavior at all times.  NO fighting will be tolerated. Foul, vile or vulgar language will not be used on the field either toward other players or to yourself in general.  Referees are instructed to card offenders.   Any fight will result in immediate one-year suspension without a refund to whoever throws the first punch.  All other individuals who get involved in a fight will be also suspended according to the level of their involvement according to witnesses’ reports. Referee abuse will not be tolerated. Assault includes the following acts committed upon a referee: hitting, kicking, punching, choking, spitting at, or on, grabbing, stepping on, or running into a referee; the act of kicking or throwing any object at a referee that could inflict injury, damaging the referee’s uniform or personal property. Referee abuse is also defined as a verbal attack or physical approach that implies or threatens physical harm to a referee or the referee’s property or equipment.  Verbal threats are remarks that carry the implied or direct threat of physical harm. Threats such as: "I’ll get you after the game" or "You won't get out of here in one piece" shall be deemed referee abuse. Commission of any of the preceding acts will carry a 6 month to one-year suspension from RASL.  A player who has been punished for fighting, however long the suspension, provided it is the first time this happens and there is no history of red cards, his/her manager will be able to appeal the suspension in order to cut it in half.  Player will need to pay the fine of $100 and the player will be able to play after half the suspension is over.  Player may also be required to referee 1 to 3 friendly matches in our league to be fully eligible. Should the player come back after his full suspension is over, the player will still be required to pay a fee of $50 in order to be allowed to play again in the league.

REFEREES - All decisions made by the referees assigned to RASL matches are final. USSF and referees in training are contracted to referee league games, if you have a problem with the referees that officiate the games, we suggest that you look into leagues on the north side.  No appeals will be accepted pertaining to decisions by the referee. No player or individual shall enter the field of play without the referee's express permission except during substitutions.

Referee Veto* – each team is entitled to veto one referee per season.  This can only be done by the manager of the team; a referee evaluation form must be completed and submitted with a $20 processing fee to the league director.  This veto will be applicable for following seasons as well; however, if a team wants to change the referee they have vetoed in a future season, a new form and additional $20 processing fee must be submitted to the league director.      *a referee veto is not guaranteed during a Final matchup where we utilize a team of 2 referees.

REFUNDS - Once entered on the schedule, no team or player shall receive a refund for any reason. Refunds to players during the season are the responsibility of the team managers.  

UNIFORMS - All teams are required to wear uniforms in order to play.  Matching jerseys (no t-shirts allowed) are required and must be numbered.  Shorts and socks do not necessarily need to be of the same brand name or style but have to be of the same color (or very similar such as navy blue & black.  Clashing colors will not be allowed such as wearing green instead of red or orange instead of royal blue).  Teams are expected to fulfill this requirement no later than game 3.  A referee shall disallow a player from the field of play until he or she is wearing his or her team matching colors. If player refuses to change then he shall not be allowed to play.

OLDER DIVISIONS – In the older divisions, teams are allowed to have some younger players as follows: a total of 4 years under age can be used by a maximum of 2 'field' players in any combination possible thereof (i.e. in the Over30 Division: one 26 year old, two 28 year olds, or one 27 year old & one 29 year old).  Furthermore, teams are allowed to have a goalie that is at most 5 years younger, but this player is required to play in goal 100% of the time (the goalie's age does not count towards the 4 years mentioned above).   *It is the team managers responsibility to ensure that all players participating in games with their team meet the age requirements set forth for these older (Women's 30, Women's 40, Coed 30, Men's 30) divisions and do not exceed the maximum younger years allowed.  Teams found in violation of the age rule; whether intentionally or accidentally, may have their game declared a forfeit loss and score logged as 0:3.

GRIEVANCE POLICY/PROTEST - A grievance/protest is a complaint with a suggested resolution. The only matters that are grievable/protestable are treatment of players by coaches, actions of spectators, or any clear violation of the RASL rules that has escaped the attention of the League Director. Any grievance/protest shall be filed in writing, with a $50 nonrefundable protest fee, to the league within three days of the action under protest. Upon receipt, the League management will review the relevant facts and render a determination in writing to the protestor within seven days. The following items, while not exclusive, are not grievable/protestable:

• RASL rules
• Referee decisions
• Decisions regarding suspensions

SCORING AND POINT CALCULATIONS:

Teams will lose standing points due to forfeits and missing meetings but not for red cards.

Deviations from FIFA and USSF Laws of the Game.

Unless otherwise indicated here, all Laws of the Game as prescribed in FIFA’s sanctioning bodies’ rulebooks will apply to all RASL matches.

Law 1: The Field of Play.  Local conditions may mandate use of non-standard or sub-optimal fields.

Law 3: The Number of Players.  Free-substitutions are permitted for both teams during most dead-ball situation with previous referee approval.

Law 7: Duration of the Match.  If weather or field conditions mandate, and with the concurrence of both involved coaches, matches may be shortened from the normal 40 minute halves.

SEASON POINT TIE-BRACKERS:

In case of point ties, the tie will be broken in this order:

1. Goal difference
2. Goals against
3. Goals for
4. Head-to-head competition
5. Least amount of red-cards received
6. Coin toss.

During play-offs, ties will be broken as follows:

During the quarter-finals, the lower ranked team MUST win the game to move on.  In case of a tie, the higher ranked team will qualify to the next round. There is NO overtime.

During semi-finals, teams will go straight to PK’s in case of a tie.

During finals, teams will play two 10 minute sudden death (Golden Goal) halves.  If teams are still tied after the over time, there will be a regular PK session to decide to winner.  If for any reason, lights are being used and they go off, the game will be decided on a coin-toss.

* If there is any disagreement with regards to the above rules, it will be the League Director’s responsibility to interpret such rules to the parties affected.  The League Director shall have the final word on any rule interpretation issue.