DRONE SOCCER 3x3

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AGE CATEGORIES

KIDS (10 to 12 years old / Elemendary School)

TEENS / SENIOR (12+ to 18 years old / Middle & High School)

ADULTS (18+ years old / University & Individuals)

⚠️ The sport is held in one division:

The sport requires a specific type of drone-robot. Details are provided in the rules.

🚨 Each age category competes separately.

TEAM REGISTRTION

⚠️ RULE ZERO – Zero Tolerance & Common Sense
In all sports, Rule ZERO applies, which states:

➤ "If you are not sure whether something is allowed, then it is probably NOT allowed."

All rules are based on common sense, the spirit of the sport, and the safety of all participants.

Any deliberate misinterpretation, violation of the meaning of the rules, or attempt to exploit gray areas for unfair advantage will not be tolerated and may lead to team disqualification from the competition.

🎯 GOAL

The goal of an alliance (alliance: 3 teams in one, 3x3 football), which consists of 3 drone balls, is to score as many goals as possible against the opposing team.

👥 TEAM – COACH

Participation in the competition is team-based, not individual.
Each team may consist of two (2) to three (3) members.
Each team must designate up to one (1) Robot Athlete Technician. Only the Robot Athlete Technician is allowed in the waiting area or competition area. The rest of the team can watch the matches behind the control spots.
The team is allowed to change the designated Technician before each attempt on the track, to give all members the opportunity to be actively involved in the sport, although this is not mandatory.
All team members must be at least 10 years old (equivalent to 4th grade of primary school or above).
The team’s coach must be at least 20 years old.
To ensure smooth participation in the competition, the coach must have 1 assistant for every 3 teams they register in the competition.
Each team is allowed to have only one Drone Ball. Changing the Drone Ball during the competition is not allowed
Teams are not allowed to share the same Drone Ball.
If a team encounters a serious technical issue with their Drone Ball, they are allowed to replace it only after permission from the Head Judges.

🤝 ALLIANCES

An alliance consists of 3 teams. Each team is allowed to have only one drone ball.
In each match, 2 opposing alliances compete against each other.
For 2027 the alliance should be from the same school or institution. A school must have 3 teams and each team must have its own Drone Soccer Ball to form an alliance so be able to participate in this sport.
During the matches, an alliance will be referred to as alliance 1, alliance 2, etc.
If a team does not show up on the day of the matches, the alliance will compete with 2 teams. The Golden Ball Drone role remains mandatory. Therefore, the alliance must continue the match with the Golden Ball Drone and the other Drone Ball assigned to either the Defender or Attacker role.
If 2 teams from the same alliance do not show up, a victory will be awarded to the opposing alliance.
If for any reason an alliance is disqualified from the sport, a victory will be awarded to the opposing alliance at any stage of the competition when this occurs.

🛸 DRONE BALL CATEGORY

The match involves drones with a protective casing in the shape of a ball.

🛸DRONE BALL

Remote Control: The drone ball must be operated using a remote control.

LED LIGHTS: Each drone ball must have lights and must light up in at least two colors, red and blue, so that each alliance can have its own color, allowing players to be easily recognizable by the referees during the matches.
Dimensions and Weight: The dimensions of the drone ball must be max 20cm x 20cm x 18cm, +-1cm, and it must weigh no more than 160 grams.
Specification Confirmation: To confirm compliance with the above specifications, the drone ball will be weighed and must comfortably fit into a control box.
Control Box Dimensions: 20cm x 20cm x 18cm with a tolerance of +- one (1)cm.
The drone ball must fit into the control box without applying pressure.
➤ Spare Battery: Teams must have at least one spare battery to ensure there are no delays in the conduct of the matches.

🧪 TECHNICAL INSPECTION

The initial technical inspection will take place on the day of the Games at a place and time to be determined by the organizers.
The technical inspection includes inspection of the Drone Ball and controller according to the conditions described above. If it does not meet the specifications, he will not be allowed to compete and will be automatically disqualified from the event.
During the technical check the "badge" used by the alliance on its Robot Footballers will be given.
If a team is not in place during the initial inspection, this results in the team being automatically disqualified from the match.
After the completion of the initial inspection, the Drone Ball is assigned its unique ID code.
A secondary technical check is also carried out before each match by the assistant referee.
If, during the competition procedure, the referee determines that a Drone Ball is violating or failing to meet the prescribed specifications, the referee has the right to disqualify it immediately.

🏟️ FIELD

➤ Track Dimensions: The track is rectangular, measuring 4 meters by 6 meters.
Track Enclosure: The track is enclosed with net around the perimeter for safety reasons.
Goals: The goals consist of two hoops with a diameter of 80 centimeters, placed 60 centimeters away from the walls of the track and hanging from the ceiling.
➤ Track Floor:
The center of the track floor features markings resembling a soccer field.
The goal area features a rectangular shape in either red or blue, measuring 4 meters by 70 centimeters.

🏆 COMPETITION

📋 GENERAL INFORMATION - RULES

🏟️ COMPETITION FORMAT

The competition format is determined according to the number of participating alliances in each age category.
The alliances are divided into 16 groups.
The number of alliances placed in a Group, as well as the number of matches between alliances in a Group will be adjusted according to the number of teams participating in the Sport.
Depending on the number of participants, the group stage leads to the Top 16, Top 8, or Top 4.
Qualified alliances proceed to the subsequent stages according to the format shown in the diagram at the end of this page.
The Organizing Committee reserves the right to modify the format to accommodate the total number of participating alliances.

🤝ALLIANCE ROLES
Each alliance assigns one of the following three roles to each drone ball:

Defender,
Attacker and
Golden Ball Drone.

Each alliance must report their roles to the referee before the start of the match.

📝 ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES

➤ Golden Ball Drone:
Only the Golden Ball Drone can score. A goal is only counted if this drone ball passes through the hoop.

➤ Defender:

The Defender’s role is to protect the team’s goal.

A Drone Ball may not enter or remain stationary inside its own goal ring for defensive purposes. The referee will issue a first warning for this violation. If the same Drone Ball repeats the violation, it will be disqualified from the match. The alliance will continue the match without its Defender Drone.

➤ Attacker:
The Attacker assists the Golden Ball Drone in scoring.

⚽ GOAL
A goal is achieved only when the Golden Ball Drone passes entirely through the opposing team's hoop.

📊 SCORING
FOR THE GROUP STAGE MATCHES:

Each win awards 3 points.
Each draw awards 1 point.
Each loss awards 0 points.

🏟️ ADVANCEMENT FROM THE GROUP STAGE TO THE TOP 16.

The alliance with the most points in each group advances to the Top 16.

If two or more alliances are tied on points, the alliance that scored the most goals across all group-stage matches advances to the Top 16.
If the tie remains, the alliance that conceded the fewest goals across all group-stage matches advances to the Top 16.
If the tie still remains, a penalty shootout will be held. The alliance that scores the most goals advances to the Top 16.

🏟️ SCORING AND ADVANCEMENT IN THE TOP 16 AND KNOCKOUT STAGES

In Top 16 and subsequent knockout matches, the alliance that scores the most goals during the match wins.
The winning alliance advances to the next stage, while the losing alliance is eliminated.
If the score is tied at the end of a knockout match, a penalty shootout will be held to determine the winner.
The winners of the semifinals advance to the final. The losing alliances compete in the Small Final. The final determines 1st and 2nd place, and the Small Final determines 3rd and 4th place.

🏟️ PENALTY SHOOTOUT PROCEDURE

Before each attempt, the referee places the Golden Ball Drone on the floor at the centre of the arena and the Defender Drone on the floor directly beneath its team’s hoop.
At the referee’s signal, both Drones take off. The Golden Ball Drone attempts to score, while the defending Drone attempts to block the goal.
The attempt must be completed within 10 seconds of the referee’s signal.
A goal is counted only if the Golden Ball Drone passes completely through the opposing team’s hoop within the time limit.
If either Drone fails to take off, the Golden Ball Drone does not pass completely through the hoop within 10 seconds, or a rule is violated, the attempt is recorded as a miss.
The alliances take three attempts each, alternately. The alliance that scores the most goals wins the shootout.
If the score remains tied after the three attempts each, the shootout continues in sudden death: the alliances take one attempt each, alternately, until one alliance scores and the other does not.

🔄 TECHNICIAN CHANGE TIME

An alliance may change its Technician between matches within the same group.

⏱️ MATCH DURATION

The match has a total duration of 4 minutes.
There is no half time. The teams keep the same number of goals in all 4 minutes of the game.
During the match, time runs continuously, without stopping the clock at all.
When teams are not playing, they can make corrections to their Drone Ball Player.
Before each match the Drone Balls will go through a technical check carried out by the referee.

⚠️🛠️ MATCH PREPARATION - RESTRICTIONS

At the start of the match, the drone balls are placed on the court floor within the red or blue area, depending on the color of each alliance.
The match begins with the referee's whistle. All drone balls must take off after the referee's whistle.
If an alliance scores a goal, the referee records the goal for the alliance without stopping the time.
After scoring a goal, all active Drone Balls of the scoring alliance must immediately return to their side of the flying zone before attempting to score again. If this rule is violated, a penalty shot will be awarded to the opposing alliance. Any subsequent goal that the referee determines resulted from this violation will not be counted.
If some drone balls get stuck together, the referee may order the drone balls to land and restart the match.
The referee will issue a "red card" if it is determined that a drone ball is intentionally trying to destroy an opponent's drone ball. In this case, the drone ball is ejected from the match, and the alliance continues with 2 drone balls. The referee will ask the drone ball technician to land the ball and deactivate it without stopping the match.
It is prohibited for any drone ball of the defending alliance to intentionally remain stationary in front of the goal or to move parallel to the goal line for more than 3 seconds. If the referee determines such a case, the drone ball will be ejected from the match, and the alliance will continue with 2 drone balls.
The referees' decisions are final. Disputes of these decisions can only be submitted to the Head Judges. Disputing the final decisions of the Head Judges may lead to a team or alliance being disqualified.

🩹 DRONE BALL INJURY

➤ A Drone Ball is considered injured by the referee when:

A part of it has been disassembled.
It remains stationary (lost connection with the controller).
An injured drone ball remains on the ground in the playing field until the 4-minute match is completed. The team can repair their drone ball after the match ends so that it can continue in the next game.
If all Drone Balls of an alliance are injured and out of play, the referee will allow the alliance up to 10 minutes to return to the match. During this period, the referee will proceed with the next scheduled match, where possible. Once the alliance is ready to continue, the referee will resume the interrupted match. If the alliance is not ready to resume within 10 minutes, the match will be declared over and the score at the time of the interruption will stand.

GROUPS MATCHES

QUARTER-FINAL

SEMI-FINAL

FINAL

GROUP MATCHES

SMALL FINAL

GROUPS SYSTEM

EXAMPLE OF MATCHES BETWEEN A GROUP'S ALLIANCES

🟥 TEAM DISQUALIFICATION

In the following cases the team is excluded from the Sport and will have to withdraw.
Team results are not taken into account and are not included in the list of competition results.
1. If the team's Drone Ball does not comply with the requirements specified in the rules of the Sport and the team refuses to accommodate him.
2. If any Drone Ball's Technician behaves in an inappropriate or disrespectful manner, swears at or provokes or verbally or otherwise attacks teammates or the referees.

3. If even one of the coaches of a team behaves in an inappropriate or indecent manner, swears or provokes or verbally or otherwise attacks other teams, teammates or the referees.

4. In cases indicated in the rules of the Sport above.

✅ ALLOWED / ❌ PROHIBITED

✅ Allowed:

Frequent battery changes between matches are necessary to ensure the drone ball is always ready for action.

❌ Prohibited:

Any modification of the drone ball.
The use of different motors from those provided with the drone ball as recommended by the sport.
The modification of the controller.
The cases listed in the rules above.

🏆 WINNERS
The alliances that achieve

🥇 1st place

🥈 2nd place

🥉 3rd place

are announced per Age Category, based on the score.