Technical
1. The playing area is 46 x 26 m.
2. The size of goals is 4 x 2m.
3. The size of ball is 5.
4. The pitch consists of natural grass.

Timing
5. Matches are 20 minutes each half.
6. Half time is 5 minutes.
7. If a team arrives late (after the official start of the match) then they lose the match by default (5-0).
8. The referee must add extra time to the game if it was interrupted due to injury, deliberate delaying etc. 10. If a match is suspended part-way through, due to inclement weather or any other unforeseeable circumstance, then the re-scheduled match will resume at the exact same point at which it was suspended.

Players and Squads
9. Only corporate teams can participate
10. All the players must be at least 2 months employees of the participating company. (They have to start to be employed at the company before: 12.08.2024)
11. Two companies together can create one team.
12. Players must be a minimum of 16 years old. Any player that is under 18 must have signed permission from their legal representative.
14. Players must be amateur. Players with a professional contract at the time of the EURO Business Cup as well as 365 or less days before the day of opening ceremony are not allowed to participate.
15. One team can have: minimum 10- maximum 15 players.
16. Every team need to fullfil “EURO Business Cup Player Registration Form” at least 30 days before the event.
17. Only players and squad members registered on are allowed to sat down on their bench.
18. Squads will not be able to change benches at half time.
19. A maximum of 5 team management members are allowed to represent the team on the team bench during the games.
20. Players must be able to identify by showing a hard copy or photocopy of their ID card or passport.
21. After group stage players must present ID card or passport for identification for each game they play.
22. Players without ID are not allowed to participate to game.
23. The players identification are made by referees who officiate the match.

Clothing
24. Each squad should wear the home/away kit as instructed in the Tournament Director’s schedule.
25. Each player will wear a long or short sleeved jersey with which should have a printed number between 1 and 99 on the back. The number on the jersey must be the same as the number submitted to the referee and printed on their match card.
26. If a player’s jersey is damaged then they may swap to a jersey with a different number, so long as no other player has worn that number during the game. In this case the team captain must alert the referee of the change before it is done.
27. The goalkeeper’s kit should be a different colour to the rest of their team and he must wear gloves (obligatory)..
28. Shin pads must be worn.
29. All football shoes are allowed apart from medal studs.
30. Wearing jewellery of any kind is forbidden.

Referees
31. Two referees will officiate each match, from opposing sidelines. The referee has the authority to:
a) Start, suspend and restart the game as appropriate
b) Warn or penalize players for both on and off-field behaviour
c) Exercise discretionary power
d) Add extra time to the game for any delays

Start of the game
32. The team manager/ leader/ delegate / captain must be in place at least 30 minutes before the start of the game to complete the match card.
33. Five minutes before start of the game the teams will be informed by the speaker to prepare.
34. The referee will then toss a coin and the captain of the team listed second in the fixtures (the ‘away’ team) will choose heads or tails. The winner of the coin toss will choose an end, the losing team will kick off.
35. Shortly before the match starts the EMF anthem will be played. Directly after this the games will start.

Substitutions
36. A maximum of 6 players are allowed on the pitch at any given time.
38. There are unlimited substitutions.
39. Substitutions are roll on, roll off, at the halfway line on the side of the pitch where the teams are located.
40. Substitution mistakes (too many players on the pitch) will be punished with a yellow card for the last incoming player.
41. If a player is injured they may leave the field from another point, but the player replacing them must enter at the halfway line upon authorisation of the referee.
42. In the case that a goalkeeper is substituted for an outfield player, the outfield player must wear a different coloured jersey from the rest of the team.

Sliding
43. Slide tackles are not allowed.
44. General sliding to control or stop the ball is permitted only if there is no opponent nearby.
45. Slide tackles will be judged as “technical fouls” which results in an indirect free-kick.

Scoring
46. If the ball goes from one goal keeper into the opposing goal then this still counts as a valid goal.
47. A goal can be scored directly from a goal kick.
48. If a match is drawn, and a winner must be determined, there will be three penalties from each side. If the teams still cannot be separated then the game will go to sudden death penalties until a winner is found. The players taking the sudden death penalties must be different to the players who have taken the first three penalties.

Re-starts
49. If the ball goes out of play it will be thrown-in from the side-line.
50. If the ball passes the goal line (but there was no goal) then the goal keeper must restart the game by a kick-off.

Free-kicks
51. The distance between the ball and the opponents at a free-kick should be 5 meters.
52. In general free kicks are direct free kicks.

Yellow and Red Cards
53. A red card results in exclusion of the relevant player for the rest of the game and the team will be reduced to 5 players for 5 minutes.
54. A player who receives a direct red card will be banned from playing in the subsequent game.
55. A player who receives two yellow cards in one game will be shown a red car and therefore is excluded for the remainder of the game. The team will be reduced to 5 players for 5 minutes.
56. A player who receives a yellow card in two consecutive games is banned from playing in the subsequent match. This rule applies throughout the whole competition and the player’s record will not be wiped after the group games. (except final where the player who got two yellow cards in two different games – usually quarter and semi-final is allowed to play). The yellow cards are starting to accumulate again after the suspension is served.
57. The Tournament Director has the authority, following consultation with the Disciplinary Committee (DC), to exclude a player for the remainder of the tournament for very serious offences (violence towards players, officials, spectators etc.)
58. Team officials and management are subject to the same disciplinary measures as players.

Five (5) Seconds

59. The referee will count five seconds and visibly show it in the following situations:

Throw-in – if the player is ready to take a throw in or he’s clearly delaying the restart, the Referee will start a 5 second countdown and after that, the Referee will award a throw-in to the opposing team.

Corner kick – if the player is ready to take a corner kick or he’s clearly delaying the restart, the Referee will start a 5 second countdown and after that, the Referee will award a goal kick to the opposing team.

Goal kick - if the Goalkeeper is ready to take a goal kick or he’s clearly delaying the restart of the game, the Referee will start a 5 second countdown and after that, the Referee will award an indirect free kick to the opposing team and the indirect free kick will be taken from the nearest penalty area line.
Goalkeeper – ‘5 second GK rule’ – The Referee will start to count once the Goalkeeper (GK) has control of the ball in the GK’s half of the field of play. The count of 5 seconds only stops when:
The ball clearly enters the GK’s opponent’s half of the field of play
The ball leaves the field of play
The ball is touched by an opponent anywhere on the field of play
The ball is passed to a teammate of the GK
If the GK is guilty of any misconduct that receives a sanction such as a yellow or red card.
If the GK holds onto the ball in his own half for more than 5 seconds, an indirect free kick will be awarded to the opposition for a technical foul

Qualification
60. 16 teams progress into the next round of the competition (Last 16 round). The 1st placed teams and the 2nd placed teams will qualify to the Last 16 round and the best two 3rd placed teams from the groups. No teams from the same group can meet in the last 16 round.
61. In the event that teams are tied on points then their position in the group shall be determined by: 
a) mutual game
b) goal difference
c) goals scored
d) number of wins
e) EMF ranking
f) the difficulty of the opponents (on the basis of the opponents points in the EMF ranking) g) the draw
62. Rule for the best 3rd place teams ranking:
1. The ranking is made between 3rd placed teams for all groups by the following criteria (for the groups of 4 teams, ONLY the results with the teams that are placed first and second in the group are taken into consideration, thus eliminating the result against the team that finishes fourth in the group):
1.1 Points
1.2 Goal difference
1.3 Goals scored
1.4 Number of wins
1.5 Fair Play points. 3p for direct red, 1 point for yellow.
1.6 EMF ranking for National Associations
1.7 The difficulty of the opponents (on the basis of the opponents points in the EMF ranking)
1.8 Draw4

Note: In case the two teams that finish third in the groups of three team, F and G, are eliminated after the group stage, they will play a consolation match between themselves, before the start of the Last 16 round, thus having the chance to play three matches at the tournament. 

In case only one of those teams is eliminated, it will play a consolation match against the third best „3” place team from the group stage. In case of both teams that finish third in the groups of three teams  qualify, there will be no consolation match.

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Disciplinary Committee
Any matters of dispute can be referred to the Disciplinary Committee to make an unbiased and independent judgement.
The Disciplinary Committee will have unfettered and independent jurisdiction and retains the right to impose penalties for disciplinary incidents on and off the field, up to a maximum of €250 and in addition to the standard red and yellow card fines put in place by the Committee of the Interior, to prevent the sport of minifootball being brought into disrepute.
The EMF Executive Committee reserves the right to make changes to the EURO Business Cup Rule, subject to agreement from the Tournament Director.