The game: officials, time and scoring

7 rules

1. 4Officials

   Who runs the game, from the two umpires and the referee to the goal judges, timekeeper and scorers, and whose word is final.

2. 6Common terms and rules

   The vocabulary the rest of the rules rely on: foul, the states of play, the throw-in, offside, behind the ball and the fair play dropped ball.

3. 7Winning and scoring goals

   A game is won on total goals, handicap goals included, and a goal only counts when the whole ball crosses the line between the posts.

4. 8Duration of the game

   A game normally lasts 4 to 6 chukkas, with fixed intervals between them.

5. 9Unfinished game

   A game is played to the end unless stopped for an unavoidable reason, and then it resumes exactly where it stopped.

6. 10Duration of chukkas

   A chukka lasts 7 minutes plus up to 30 seconds, with special endings for the last chukka and extra time, and the clock stops only on the whistle.

7. 13Changing ends

   Teams swap ends after every goal, and at half time if no goal has been scored.