Tournament Rules

Our tournament is hosted on the property of St Joseph’s Marist, a school with whom Rygersdal Football Club has had a long-standing relationship spanning over 20 years. We insist that all participants, parents and spectators adhere to the basic principles of respect so that this remains an incident-free, fun and exciting grassroots tournament.

Organisers will not hesitate to evict parents, players, coaches and spectators who do not adhere to these rules.

• A 5-minute change-over period between each match.
• All matches kick off simultaneously. There is no grace period — teams must be ready at their designated field at least 10 minutes before kick-off.
• All knockout matches level at full time will be decided by a penalty shoot-out directly after full time.

1. 1Unlimited rolling substitutions may be made during breaks or play. Players may be brought on and off the field throughout the game provided the referee is notified and acknowledges.
2. 2Where the ball goes out, kick-ins will take place, and the ball must be passed to another player — no shooting from kick-ins.
3. 3Opposition players must be at least 3 metres away from the kick-in to allow play to restart and the ball to be passed successfully to a teammate. The team kicking in may be as close to the kick-in as they like.
4. 4A penalty awarded will be taken 6 metres away from the goal line.
5. 5A goalkeeper can only throw/roll the ball back into play or drop the ball and pass it. The goalkeeper cannot kick out of hand. Opposing players must be 3 metres away from the box to allow the keeper to restart.
6. 6A goalkeeper can play as a sweeper as well.
7. 7No offside rule in the game, but players and team coaches will be cautioned for consistent “camping” at the discretion of the referee.
8. 8Full corners apply where applicable when the ball goes out of play behind the goal line — opponents 3 metres away.
9. 9The goalkeeper is allowed to pick up a back pass from his own player.

1. 1Unlimited rolling substitutions may be made during breaks or play. Players may be brought on and off the field throughout the game provided the referee is notified and acknowledges.
2. 2At the start and restart of play — normal rules, but with opponents at least 10 metres away from the ball.
3. 3Where the ball goes out, throw-ins will take place — normal rules apply. In the event of a “foul throw” the referee will stop play and give one opportunity for a retake. If the retake is a foul throw again, the referee will award a throw to the opposition team.
4. 4Full corners — normal rules.
5. 5In the case of free kicks — opponents to be 10 metres away and the referee to instruct direct or indirect. An indirect free kick occurs when play is stopped due to irregular infringements (i.e. a goalkeeper picks up a back pass, or the ball hits the legs of a substitute or player who has mistakenly stood in the field of play). Direct free kicks are given for any stoppage caused by a foul (tackle, penalties, etc).
6. 6A penalty will be taken 8 metres from the goal line.
7. 7Goal kicks and general goalkeeping distribution — the goalkeeper may throw, roll or kick the ball into the field of play.
8. 8Goalkeeper can play as sweeper as well.
9. 9There will be no offside rule in the game, but players must be made aware of the offside rule to avoid “camping” in front of the opponents’ goal. Match officials shall not allow any goals scored from camping and decisions will be made at the discretion of the referee.

1. 1Players without valid 2025/6 SAFA cards will not be eligible to play.
2. 2Teams must register their full squad (with cards) 1 hour prior to their first match kick-off.
3. 3Teams who do not field their team at the time of their fixture will forfeit the game.
4. 4The tournament organisers have the right to amend or rectify rules at any time during the competition.
5. 5Teams have to supply match sheets for each game, fully filled in and submitted to the Organising Committee via Sportivo. The scores as recorded by the Match Officials will be final unless queried within a one-hour period after each fixture.
6. 6Only players on the registration team sheet will be eligible throughout the duration of the tournament. Players may only be added if the team sheet is not full, and in this case it must be done through the Organising Committee.
7. 7A team replacing a squad player due to injury may only do so with approval of the Organising Committee, and the injured player shall no longer be eligible to participate in the tournament.
8. 8Any team fielding a suspended / ineligible player will be disqualified from the game in which that player(s) participated and the result awarded 3-0 to their opposition.
9. 9Unless otherwise stated, the general rules applied by CTTFA and FIFA apply.

• Rygersdal Football Club will be supplying all the referees.
• The referees are all considered eligible to referee as they are all card-carrying members of SAFA Cape Town.
• In the event of any dispute, the referee’s score-sheet will override any dispute. It is in the interest of every team to check the referee has recorded the correct score at the end of every match.
• Complaints (and compliments) about referees are to be directed to the Organising Committee; however, no complaint shall be entertained based on subjectivity.
• The referees will not tolerate any abuse from parents, spectators, players or coaches. The referee has the right to ask any spectator, parent, player or coach to leave the field — in such a case the referee will report the events to the Organising Committee, who in turn have the right to suspend such a person from entering the facility or partaking in the tournament.
• The referee reserves the right to report any incident, at any time, to the Organising Committee, who in turn hold the right to take any necessary measures — which may include suspension or expulsion.
• Any matters of a serious nature shall be reported to the relevant LFA and SAFA Cape Town.

• In the event of rain, or any other factor which brings a stop to the original structure of the tournament, the organisers have the right to reschedule games or change the format of the tournament entirely.
• Where a game is called off (before or during the fixture) due to bad weather and/or field conditions and cannot be replayed, the organisers reserve the right to consider the game a “no-result” — no points will be accumulated by either team.
• The organisers cannot be held responsible for the effects of mother nature and will do everything in their power to ensure the tournament goes ahead as planned. Entry fees are non-refundable should the tournament — or a team’s participation — be affected in any way whatsoever.

Girls wishing to play in an age group below their current year may do so on the basis that the majority of the team — on the field at any given time — consists of correctly aged players (i.e. 3 out of 5 players must be correctly aged).

1. 1Goal difference.
2. 2Goals scored.
3. 3If two or more teams cannot be separated after the above, then only the result between the affected sides will be considered (i.e. the winning team will progress).
4. 4If teams can still not be separated, a penalty shoot-out will ensue in a sudden death format.
5. 5Where teams cannot be separated — or there are more than two teams tied after all permutations are taken into account — all qualifying teams will be subjected to a sudden death penalty shoot-out where the team who misses first is immediately removed from the equation. The last team standing will progress, even if that team has not yet taken a penalty (i.e. the first two penalties are a miss).
6. 6The order of teams taking penalties will be decided by a simple “coin toss” conducted by the referee on the field of play.

In memory of former Rygersdal member Kairos Erasmus, who passed away earlier this season. Kairos was a long-standing junior player who returned to the club this year to play in the senior social team.

This memorial cup will feature the Under 8 teams knocked out of the Quarter Finals. They will play a Semi Final and then a Final.