15.05.2011
Dear Referee,
The FIVB hosted at the end of the 2010 season a "Beach Volleyball refereeing and Rules of the Game workshop". This brainstorm had the participation of all relevant parties involved in the sport discipline, and aimed at improving the attractiveness of Beach Volleyball. In line with the recommendations of the workshop rule changes will be studied for enforcement from 2012 onwards.
In the meantime and also as a follow up on the recommendations of the workshop, improvements have been introduced at several of the specific regulations and will be enforced on the 2011 season as per the recent approval of the FIVB Referee Commission.
For a better understanding of the changes introduced, you may find hereunder a summary of the principles and main objectives applied. These are as follows:
Protest Protocol - summary of changes applied
- eliminate the possibility for players to protest judgment calls by giving the 1st referee the responsibility to only submit to the RD protests requested under the three following criteria: misinterpretation or misapplication of the rules, scoring errors, technical aspects of the match conditions;
- Referee Delegate to only act at Level 1 for rejecting or accepting the merit of the Protest submitted in accordance to the criteria (as above);
- eliminate the former Level 2 process (at the time of the occurrence) by making the outcome of the Protest at Level 1 to be only object of eventual challenge at the end of the game (new Level 2);
- establish a new money fee scale for FIVB World Competitions (WT/WCs/Final stages of the Continental Cup/World Cup and OG). To be published at the FIVB Handbook as per hereunder wording:
On court disputes shall be resolved under the FIVB Regulations with relevance to Protest Protocol directives:
1) A progressive fee is applied (USD 500 for the first time at a given tournament, with a minimum of USD 1000 for the second time and doubling after that) in case a Protest Protocol is judged as «Rejected» by the Referee Delegate. In the case this occurs at the Centre Court a USD 1000 fee will apply for the first instance, with a minimum of USD 2500 for the second and doubling after that. The same fees shall apply in case a first Referee would give sequence to protest not meeting the criteria by calling the RD onto the court.
2) Protest allegations after a Level 2 Protest having been confirmed at the scoresheet at the end of the match, must be presented in writing to the FIVB Technical Supervisor no later than 30 minutes after the end of the match and accompanied by a deposit of USD 1000 (USD 2500 at the Center Court). A final verdict shall be given by the Executive Committee no later than 2 hours after the protest allegations having been submitted, or at the latest before the start of the matches eventually affected by the concerned result. Executive Committee members of the same nationality as the team making a protest shall be excluded from the deliberations concerning the protest.
Ball Mark Protocol - summary of changes applied
- ball mark checking to NOT be implemented at the request of the players but only by decision of the first referee where significant doubt exists in the decision as to whether the ball is in or out
- eliminate any possible debate with the teams after the first referee reaches the final decision
Medical Injury Protocol - summary of changes applied
- eliminate the possibility for the players to request a medical TO without asking for medical treatment (this will decrease abuse of procedure)
- define the concept of recovery time as being the time needed for treatment within the maximum of 5 minutes, nevertheless when treatment is completed or no treatment is possible the official medical personnel will determine that the time is up
- when the time is up, play resumes or the team is declared incomplete
- team's medical personnel (if accredited) is allowed into the court
- if the team made the request to be treated by their own personnel then the time counting starts immediately at the time of the request, otherwise it starts upon arrival of the relevant official medical personnel
- at all circumstances the relevant official medical personnel is called to the court, as they will be the ones stating to the referee when medical treatment is completed
- in addition to the above, for FIVB World Competitions (WT/WCs/Final stages of the Continental Cup/World Cup and OG), the following ruling is established as published at the FIVB Handbook:
1) a maximum of 2 medical injury time-out per player within a rolling 12-month period are allowed
2) extra medical injury time-outs will be sanctioned according to the hereunder money fee:
• USD 1000 for 3rd injury time-out within a 12-month period
• USD 2000 for 4th injury time-out within a 12-month period
• USD 3000 for 5th and more injury time-out within a 12-month period
3) the organizers concerned are required to supply 2 dedicated players toilets (one for the women and one for the men - portable if it will be not possible to exploit an existing facility) close to every competition courts within a range of maximum 100 meters from the courts. Should any additional costs may arise the FIVB may consider to bear such a costs upon accepting a quote which must be sent by the organizers concerned at least 2 weeks before the start of the event.
4) medical injury TOs assigned by the referee due blood injuries requiring medical assistance will not count towards the total number of medical TOs used by a player during the rolling 12 month period.
- during the 2011 season the following procedure will be tested and brought to the attention of the people concerned
In case a player asks for a medical injury time-out or forfeits a match due to injury, immediately following the respective scoresheet administration he/she will be given by the game referee a copy of the WT-49 form (blood injury related medical TOs do not require the use of this form).
Upon receipt, the player will be then responsible for filling in the reasons for the medical injury time-out request or the forfeit of the match and then sign if before presenting him/herself with that form at the tournament's medical office.
After going through a check by the official medical doctor, the player will be then responsible to present the form duly signed by the official medical doctor, to the FIVB Technical Supervisor who shall assess the situation (if needed together with the event's Executive Committee, the official doctor and the FIVB medical Delegate (if present) and make a copy of the form for attaching to the TS report together with the relevant match scoresheet.
Following that, the player will receive the original form in order to submit this report for their respective medical doctor(s) for filling in before the player may present it to the relevant Technical Meeting at the next event he/she wishes to participate at.
Misconduct - summary of changes applied
- existing Rules and regulations will be strictly enforced / this reflects at the new wording of the Guidelines for this specific area
- establish at FIVB World Competitions (WT/WCs/Final stages of the Continental Cup/World Cup and OG) the “misconduct sanction fee scale” for equipment abuse or officials and on court personnel abuse by players leading to a penalty or higher sanction by the referee. To be published at the FIVB Handbook replacing the current “money fine sanction scale”.
Delays - summary of emphasis
- 12 seconds between rallies / existing Rules and regulations will be strictly enforced / this reflects at the new wording of the Guidelines for this specific area
- requests for clarification plus long discussions / existing Rules and regulations will be strictly enforced / this reflects at the new wording of the Guidelines for this specific area (highlight: referees will only accept proper requests for clarification on interpretation; any request for clarification on judgment calls shall be refused and immediately sanctioned for delay if player insists)
Setting overhand with fingers - summary of emphasis
- existing Rules and regulations will be enforced / this reflects at the new wording of the Guidelines for this specific area
- the aim is that referees will increase their level of accuracy and consistency while assessing setting overhand with fingers with emphasis to eliminating long contacts and not calling doubles baded on the spin of the ball
- a good example of the criteria that we will be looking to consistently implement would be the one enforced at the 2010 Brasilia Open