1) The Libero can now be Team Captain
From 2022 forward, the Volleyball rules will allow the Libero to be team captain.
The previous rule did not allow the Libero to be captain, based on the fact that the Libero was always substituted. However, this argument has been discarded, since a regular player captain may also be substituted.
2) Substitution of an Expelled player after 6 substitutions
An expelled player must be substituted with a legal substitution. In the case that the team has already made 6 substitutions, the expelled player may be substituted with an exceptional substitution, thus preventing the game from finishing due to an “incomplete team”.
3) Jumping Over the Scorer’s Table to retrieve the ball is allowed
It is now allowed to retrieve the ball by jumping over the scorer’s table. Previously, the rule did not allow this action.
4) Simultaneous Contact of the Block
The simultaneous contact of the block against the opponent’s attack hit is not considered a block fault anymore.
The Block fault will only be pointed if the contact with ball occurs before the attack hit.
5) Court Colors
The Front Zone and Back Zone of the Volleyball court can now be of different colors.
In the previous rule, only the playing area and the free area had to be of different color.
6) Extinction of the Penalty Area
An expelled player or member of the technical commission must head directly to the locker room.
Previously, the player or member of the technical commission that was expelled would remain in the penalty area. The penalty area no longer exists.
7) Time-outs and technical time-outs
Two 30 second time-out requests are allowed for each team, for each set.
The 1 minute Technical Time-out no longer exists. It would previously occur when the team reached the 8th and 16th point, from the 1st to the 4th set.
FIVB is experimenting a 30 second time-out request for each team, for each set, and a 1 minute technical time-out when a team reaches the 12th point from the 1st to the 4th set.
8) Libero Jerseys
Teams with two Liberos may use differente colored jerseys for their Liberos, that is, one team may have 3 different jersey colors on the court: the regular player jersey color, the 1st Libero jersey color and the 2nd Libero jersey color.
9) New Refereeing Team
The refereeing team in Volleyball is now composed of:
- the 1st referee;
- the 2nd referee;
- the challenge referee;
- the reserve referee;
- the scorer;
- 4 line judges.
For FIVB Official World Competitions, the presence of the challenge referee (if the VCS is in use), the reserve referee and an assistant scorer are compulsory.
10) Challenge Booth
The challenge referee will perform his or her functions in the challenge booth, in a separate position of the table.
11) Reserve Referee
The reserve referee now integrates the refereeing team and has the following responsabilities: substituting the 2nd referee and controlling the substitution paddles.
Extra: Service Cronometer Tryout
FIBV is experimenting a new “service cronometer”, with which the player will have 15 seconds to Serve: 7 seconds to position him or herself in the Service Zone and 8 seconds to perform the Service.