page_title: Bandy
section_title: Rules
hierarchical_section_title: Bandy / Rules
caption_attribution_description: The stages in making a cork bandy ball. From left to right: a block of cork, the rounded cork, knitting the outer layer (two stages), painting it orange. To the rightmost a modern, plastic bandy ball. Svenska: De olika stegen i tillverkningen av en gammaldags bandyboll. Längst till höger en modern bandyboll i plast.
context_page_description: Bandy is a team winter sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal.
  The sport is considered a form of hockey and has a common background with ice hockey and field hockey. Bandy has also been influenced by the rules of association football: both games are normally played in halves of 45 minutes, there are 11 players on each team, and the fields in both games are about the same size. Bandy is played, like ice hockey, on ice but players use bowed sticks and a small ball, as in field hockey.
  A variant of bandy, rink bandy, is played to the same rules but on a field the size of an ice hockey rink, with ice hockey goal cages and with six players on each team, or five in USA Rink Bandy League. Traditional eleven-a-side bandy and rink bandy are recognized by the International Olympic Committee. More informal varieties also exist, like seven-a-side bandy with normally sized goal cages but without corner strokes. Those rules were applied at Davos Cup in 2016.
  Rink bandy has in turn led to the creation of the sport rinkball.
context_section_description: Overview
  There are eighteen rules in official play, designed to apply to all levels of bandy, although certain modifications for groups such as juniors, veterans or women are permitted. The rules are often framed in broad terms, which allow flexibility in their application depending on the nature of the game.
  The Bandy Playing Rules can be found on the official website of the Federation of International Bandy, and are overseen by the Rules and Referee Committee.
  Players and officials
  Each team consists of a maximum of 11 players (excluding substitutes), one of whom must be the goalkeeper. A team of fewer than eight players may not start a game. Goalkeepers are the only players allowed to play the ball with their hands or arms, and they are only allowed to do so within the penalty area in front of their own goal.
  Though there are a variety of positions in which the outfield (non-goalkeeper) players are strategically placed by a coach, these positions are not defined or required by the rules of the game.
  The positions and formations of the players in bandy are virtually the same as the common association football positions and the same terms are used for the different positions of the players. A team usually consists of defenders, midfielders and forwards. The defenders can play in the form of centre-backs, full-backs and sometimes wing-backs, midfielders playing in the centre, attacking or defensive, and forwards in the form of centre forward, second strikers and sometimes a winger. Sometimes one player is also taking up the role of a libero.
  Any number of players may be replaced by substitutes during the course of the game. Substitutions can be performed without notifying the referee and can be performed while the ball is in play. However, if the substitute enters the ice before his teammate has left it, this will result in a five-minute ban. A team can bring at the most four substitutes to the game and one of these is likely to be an extra goalkeeper.
  A game is officiated by a referee, the authority and enforcer of the rules, whose decisions are final. The referee may have one or two assistant referees. A secretary outside of the field often takes care of the match protocol.
  Equipment
  The basic equipment players are required to wear includes a pair of Bandy skates, a helmet, a mouth guard and, in the case of the goalkeeper, a face guard.
  The teams must wear uniforms that make it easy to distinguish the two teams. The goal keeper wears distinct colours to single him out from his or her teammates, just as in football. The skates, sticks and any tape on the stick must be of another colour than the bandy ball, which shall be orange or cerise.
  In addition to the aforementioned, various protections are used to protect knees, elbows, genitals and throat. The pants and gloves may contain padding.
  The bandy stick
  The stick used in bandy is an essential part of the sport. It should be made of an approved material such as wood or a similar material and should not contain any metal or sharp parts which can hurt the surrounding players. Sticks are crooked and are available in five angles, where 1 has the smallest bend and 5 has the most. Bend 4 is the most common size in professional bandy. The bandy stick should not have similar colours to the ball, such as orange or pink; it should be no longer than 127 centimetres (50 in), and no wider than 7 centimetres (2.8 in).
  Field
  A bandy field is 45–65 metres (148–213 ft) by 90–110 metres (300–360 ft), a total of 4,050–7,150 square metres (43,600–77,000 sq ft), or about the same size as a football pitch and considerably larger than an ice hockey rink. Along the sidelines a 15 cm (6 in) high border (vant, sarg, wand, wall) is placed to prevent the ball from leaving the ice. It should not be attached to the ice, to glide upon collisions, and should end 1–3 metres (3 ft 3 in–9 ft 10 in) away from the corners.
  Centered at each shortline is a 3.5 m (11 ft) wide and 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) high goal cage and in front of the cage is a half-circular penalty area with a 17 m (56 ft) radius. A penalty sp
caption: Making of an historic bandy ball in stages, from the original cork on the left to the final ball painted red, with a modern bandy ball to far right
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