Playing Field and Equipment

Water polo may be played indoors or outdoors, in a pool or open water (such as a lake). The size of the pool may vary, but there must be two floating goals and some boundary lines marked out. The maximum size of the field of play is 25 meters long by 20 meters wide. The goal nets are located at either end of the pool. Markers along the side of the pool mark the two metre (red) and five metre (yellow) marks from either end of the pool and the centre line (white). In regulation games the water must be at least 2 metres deep.

Players

Each team must have seven players (six outfield players and one goalkeeper) in the water when the game starts. All players wear numbered caps. One team wears blue, and the other white. Both goalies wear red. Up to six substitutes are allowed.

Officials

There are either one or two referees who stand on the sides of the pool. One or two further officials sitting at a table close to the mid point of the pool record the scores and keep track of time. In regulation games two goal judges sit at the goal lines to determine when a goal has been scored.

Play

There are four seven-minute periods with two minutes of rest in between. At the beginning of a game the six outfield players line up at the goal line with at least 1 metre of space between each player. The referee will toss the ball into the pool and the players will try to get possession of the ball. Once a player has possession of the ball, the player's team has 30 seconds to attempt a goal. If the player succeeds in throwing the ball between the goal posts and under the crossbar, then his team scores a goal. At the end of the fourth period the team with the most goals wins.

Fouls

There are two types of foul. An ordinary foul is given for minor infringements. The referee blows the whistle once and points in the direction of attack for the team that has been fouled. An exclusion foul is given for major infringements and the fouling player is sent out of the game for 20 seconds. The referee blows the whistle several times, points in the direction of the attack with one arm, and with a sweeping motion of the other arm signals the player committing the foul to the team’s re-entry area (the corner of the field of play immediately in front of the team’s bench). A player committing 3 exclusion fouls is excluded from the remainder of the game.