Rules and Regulations

Rules Philosophy:

  1. RoboCup rules should not in any way describe the behavior of how the game is played. Rules should only ensure that a fair competition takes place, and encourage both technical and creative development.
  2. RoboCup rules should avoid to constrain the design of robots, including their mechanical construction, their use of sensory systems, communication equipment, etc. unless the constraints seem necessary to foster scientific progress or to ensure a fair competition. Example constraint: Global vision systems are not permitted in the Middle Size League.
  3. Teams should avoid to search for gaps or inconsistencies in the rules to achieve advantages in specific game situations. If a team finds such gaps or inconsistencies, they are explicitly requested to report those to the technical committee.

Design Philosophy:

  1. Each team should design their robots without making interpretations or placing expectations on how the environment around the field will look like, about spectators, what other teams will do, what robots should look like, or how they will behave.
  2. Each team is under no obligation to accommodate modifications to their own robots to suit other teams. Any such modification is by mutual consent only.

Organization of Rules:

Rules and regulations for the RoboCup Middle Size robot League are given in two major sections:

  1. Official FIFA Laws.

They are reproduced in MSL Rulebook document. FIFA Laws are annotated with RoboCup Changes and Comments as appropriate.

  1. Competition Rules, which define issues like team qualification, etc., for a specific tournament like the annual RoboCup Robot Soccer World Championships.

Conflict Resolution Rules:

In case of any conflict between Laws and Rules:

  1. Regulations specified as RoboCup Changes and Comments in the FIFA Laws section override FIFA Laws.
  2. Regulations specified in Competition Laws override any FIFA Laws, including RoboCup Changes and Comments.

Rule Change Proposals and Corrections:

If you have found any contradictions or inconsistencies please contact the RoboCup Middle Size League mailing list or the MSL Technical Committee

To (un)subscribe to the RoboCup Middle Size League mailing list please go to

Disclaimer, Acknowledgements, and Copyright:

The MSL Rulebook reproduces and makes reference to the official Laws of the Game as set forth by FIFA and the International Football Association Board. For clauses reproduced from the official Laws of the Game, the copyright and all rights are reserved by FIFA and the International Football Association Board. For all other parts, in particular the RoboCup Changes and Comments to FIFA Laws, the copyright and all rights are reserved by the RoboCup Federation.


Most Recent Rulebooks

Rules for the MSL RoboCup Soccer World Championships