What do I need to know as a coach of a U13 or U15 team in the SAFA Junior Football League? Registration and cards, team sheets and the bench, kit, substitutes, yellow and red cards, late arrival, protests and the 2026/27 Law changes.
The SAFA Competitions Uniform Rules (approved by SAFA's National Executive Committee on 25 June 2016) bind every club, official and registered player in SAFA's amateur leagues, including the SAFA Junior Football Leagues for U13 and U15 boys and girls.
Registration period: the SAFA Junior Football League registers players from February to October (Uniform Rule 14.2).
Documents to submit for each player (Rule 14.5):
Timing
Numbers: the entry fee covers the first 22 players; further registrations must be paid for before they are processed (Rule 14.9).
No. SAFA Competitions Uniform Rule 11 applies "no card, no play" without exception.
No. SAFA Competitions Uniform Rule 12.5 says the foreign player rules do not apply in the SAFA Junior Football Leagues.
(In senior SAFA leagues, teams at Regional level and above may register no more than three foreign players.)
A player who was registered with a club outside South Africa still can't be registered until SAFA has received an international transfer certificate from that country's association. Only SAFA can request it, after a written request from the club (Rule 16).
SAFA Competitions Uniform Rule 10: hand a completed team sheet to the referee at least 45 minutes before kick-off, listing:
Shirt numbers must match the team sheet and registration forms.
Every player named on the team sheet counts as having played in the match, whether or not they take the field. The only exception: if the opposition objects before kick-off that one of your players is unregistered, suspended or improperly registered, you may replace that player on the sheet, and the replaced player is then not counted as having played.
Under the SAFA Competitions Uniform Rules:
The home team must provide separate, clearly marked "home" and "visitors" areas next to the pitch, the same distance from the halfway line, each seating no more than 12 people (Rule 5.5.11).
Only if your competition allows return substitutes.
Rolling (return) substitutions are part of SAFA's grassroots formats for ages 6 to 12.
SAFA Competitions Uniform Rule 29
IFAB Law 4 (2026/27)
SAFA Competitions Uniform Rules 26 and 27 set automatic suspensions in SAFA official competitions:
| Offence | Automatic suspension |
|---|---|
| Player sent off (red card) | Next 2 matches |
| 4 cautions (yellow cards) | Next 2 matches (except during play-offs or representative games) |
| Club official ordered off the field or technical area | Banned from the field and technical area for the next 3 matches |
Serious incidents can be referred to a disciplinary hearing, which can impose longer bans.
SAFA Competitions Uniform Rule 28 sets strict arrival times. It is an offence if your team is not:
There is no grace period. The only exception is when kick-off is delayed by an earlier SAFA-sanctioned match the SAFA office knows about.
If the match isn't played because your team was late or didn't arrive:
Repeated walkovers: a team conceding 3 walkovers in a stream of 10 or more teams, or 2 walkovers in a stream of 8 or 9 teams, in one season faces having its participation terminated, after disciplinary procedures.
Under the SAFA Competitions Uniform Rules (Rule 18):
Fee: R5 000 for a protest in the SAFA Junior Football Leagues.
Other points:
The IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27 take effect from 1 July 2026. A competition that started before that date may bring the changes in early or delay them until no later than the start of its next competition, so a league that began in February 2026 may only apply them from its next season.
Main changes for coaches: