Refereeing corps and Procedures

22.1 COMPOSITION

The refereeing corps for a match is composed of the following officials:

- the 1^st referee,

- the 2^nd referee,

- the scorer,

- four (two) line judges.

Their location is shown in Diagram 10.

For FIVB, World and Official Competitions an assistant scorer is compulsory.

22.2 PROCEDURES

22.2.1 Only the 1^st and 2^nd referees may blow a whistle during the match:

22.2.1.1 the 1^st referee gives the signal for the service that begins the rally;

22.2.1.2 the 1^st or 2^nd referee signals the end of the rally, provided that they are sure that a fault has been committed and they have identified its nature.

22.2.2 They may blow the whistle when the ball is out of play to indicate that they authorize or reject a team request.

22.2.3 Immediately after the referee's whistle to signal the completion of the rally, they have to indicate with the official hand signals:

22.2.3.1 if the fault is whistled by the 1^st referee, he/she will indicate in order:

a) the team to serve,

b) the nature of the fault,

c) the player(s) at fault (if necessary).

The 2^nd referee will follow the 1^st referee's hand signals by repeating them.

22.2.3.2 If the fault is whistled by the 2^nd referee, he/she will indicate:

a) the nature of the fault,

b) the player at fault (if necessary),

c) the team to serve following the hand signal of the 1^st referee.

In this case, the 1^st referee does not show either the nature of the fault or the player at fault, but only the team to serve.

22.2.3.3 In the case of an attack hit fault by back row or Libero players, both referees indicate according to 22.2.3.1 and 22.2.3.2 above.

22.2.3.4 In the case of a double fault both referees indicate in order:

a) the nature of the fault,

b) the players at fault (if necessary),

c) the team to serve as directed by the 1^st referee.

23 1^st REFEREE

23.1 LOCATION

The 1^st referee carries out his/her functions standing on a referee's stand located at one end of the net on the opposite side to the scorer. His/her view must be approximately 50 cm above the net.

23.2 AUTHORITY

23.2.1 The 1^st referee directs the match from the start until the end. He/ she has authority over all members of the refereeing corps and the members of the teams.

During the match his/her decisions are final. He/she is authorized to overrule the decisions of other members of the refereeing corps, if it is noticed that they are mistaken.

He/she may even replace a member of the refereeing corps who is not performing his/her functions properly.

23.2.2 He/she also controls the work of the ball retrievers, floor wipers and moppers.

23.2.3 He/she has the power to decide any matters involving the game, including those not provided for in the rules.

23.2.4 He/she shall not permit any discussion about his/her decisions.

However, at the request of the game captain, the 1^st referee will give an explanation on the application or interpretation of the rules upon which he/she has based the decision.

If the game captain does not agree with this explanation and chooses to protest against such decision, he/she must immediately reserve the right to file and record this protest at the conclusion of the match. The 1^st referee must authorize this right of the game captain.

23.2.5 The 1^st referee is responsible for determining before and during the match whether the playing area equipment and the conditions meet playing requirements.

23.3 RESPONSIBILITIES

23.3.1 Prior to the match, the 1^st referee:

23.3.1.1 inspects the conditions of the playing area, the balls and other equipment;

23.3.1.2 performs the toss with the team captains;

23.3.1.3 controls the teams' warming-up.

23.3.2 During the match, he/she is authorized:

23.3.2.1 to issue warnings to the teams;

23.3.2.2 to sanction misconduct and delays;

23.3.2.3 to decide upon:

a) the faults of the server and of the positions of the serving team, including the screen;

b) the faults in playing the ball;

c) the faults above the net, and the faulty contact of the player with the net, primarily on the attacker's side;

d) the attack hit faults of the Libero and back-row players;

e) the completed attack hits made by a player on a ball above net height coming from an overhand pass with fingers by the Libero in his/ her front zone;

f) the ball crossing completely the lower space under the net;

g) the completed block by back row players or the attempted block by the Libero.

23.3.3 At the end of the match, he/she checks the score sheet and signs it.

24 2^nd REFEREE

24.1 LOCATION

The 2^nd referee performs his/her functions standing outside the playing court near the post, on the opposite side of and facing the 1^st referee.

24.2 AUTHORITY

24.2.1 The 2^nd referee is the assistant of the 1^st referee, but has also his/her own range of jurisdiction.

Should the 1^st referee become unable to continue his/her work, the 2^nd referee may replace him/her.

24.2.2 He/she may, without whistling, also signal faults outside his/her range of jurisdiction, but may not insist on them to the 1^st referee.

24.2.3 He/she controls the work of the scorer(s).

24.2.4 He/she supervises the team members on the team bench and reports their misconduct to the 1^st referee.

24.2.5 He/she controls the players in the warm-up areas.

24.2.6 He/she authorizes the regular game interruptions, controls their duration and rejects improper requests.

24.2.7 He/she controls the number of time-outs and substitutions used by each team and reports the 2^nd time-out and 5^th and 6^th substitutions to the 1^st referee and the coach concerned.

24.2.8 In the case of an injury of a player, he/she authorizes an exceptional substitution or grants a 3-minute recovery time.

24.2.9 He/she checks the floor condition, mainly in the front zone. He/she also checks, during the match, that the balls still fulfil the regulations.

24.2.10 He/she supervises the team members in the penalty areas and reports their misconduct to the 1^st referee.

For FIVB, World and Official Competitions, the duties recorded under 24.2.5 and 24.2.10 are carried out by the Reserve Referee.

24.3 RESPONSIBILITIES

24.3.1 At the start of each set, at the change of courts in the deciding set and whenever necessary, the 2^nd referee checks that the actual positions of the players on the court correspond to those on the line-up sheets.

24.3.2 During the match, he/she decides, whistles and signals:

24.3.2.1 penetration into the opponent's court, and the space under the net;

24.3.2.2 positional faults of the receiving team;

24.3.2.3 the faulty contact of the player with the net primarily on the blocker's side and with the antenna on his/her side of the court;

24.3.2.4 the completed block by back row players or the attempted block by the Libero; or the attack hit fault by back row players or by the Libero;

24.3.2.5 the contact of the ball with an outside object;

24.3.2.6 the contact of the ball with the floor when the 1^st referee is not in position to see the contact;

24.3.2.7 the ball that crosses the net totally or partly outside of the crossing space to the opponent's court or contacts the antenna on his/her side of the court.

24.3.3 At the end of the match, he/she checks and signs the score sheet.

SCORER

25.1 LOCATION

The scorer performs his/her functions seated at the scorer's table on the opposite side of the court from and facing the 1^st referee.

25.2 RESPONSIBILITIES

He/she keeps the score sheet according to the rules, co-operating with the 2^nd referee.

He/she uses a buzzer or other sound device to notify irregularities or give signals to the referees on the basis of his/her responsibilities.

25.2.1 Prior to the match and set, the scorer:

25.2.1.1 registers the data of the match and teams, including the names and numbers of the Liberos, according to the procedures in force, and obtains the signatures of the captains and the coaches;

25.2.1.2 records the starting line-up of each team from the line-up sheet.

If he/she fails to receive the line-up sheets on time, he/she immediately notifies this fact to the 2^nd referee.

25.2.2 During the match, the scorer:

25.2.2.1 records the points scored;

25.2.2.2 controls the serving order of each team and indicates any error to the referees immediately after the service hit;

25.2.2.3 is empowered to acknowledge and announce requests for player substitutions by use of the buzzer, controlling their number, and records the substitutions and time-outs, informing the 2^nd referee;

25.2.2.4 notifies the referees of a request for regular game interruption that is out of order;

25.2.2.5 announces to the referees the ends of the sets, and the scoring of the 8^th point in the deciding set;

25.2.2.6 records misconduct warnings, sanctions and improper requests;

25.2.2.7 records all other events as instructed by the 2^nd referee, i.e. exceptional substitutions, recovery time, prolonged interruptions, external interference, re-designation, etc.;

25.2.2.8 controls the interval between sets.

25.2.3 At the end of the match, the scorer:

25.2.3.1 records the final result;

25.2.3.2 in the case of protest, with the previous authorization of the 1^st referee, writes or permits the team/game captain to write on the score sheet a statement on the incident being protested;

25.2.3.3 signs the score sheet him/herself, before obtaining the signatures of the team captains and then the referees.