Knowing it’s the world’s most prestigious club tournament, then it’s a great idea to use The Challenge System.
Europe’s Volleyball family continues to work hard to raise the popularity and profile of the sport across the general audience and the use of modern technology is instrumental to the achievement of this mission. The Challenge System is a quintessential part of this strategy and it will be used to support the work of Europe’s highly-qualified international referees at the Final Four tournaments of this year’s CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League. The system – which is already well-known to many Volleyball fans – and its rules are constantly being refined to cope with the necessity to guarantee reliability, quality and accuracy in the decision-making process.
The fans and media can already start getting familiar with the most important rules that will govern the use of the Challenge System this coming weekend for the four star-studded teams who will be fighting for the men’s Champions League crown at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin:
• The teams have the right to request two unsuccessful Challenges in a set
• Only teams losing the rally may request a Challenge
• Only the last action can be challenged, i.e. the one deciding the result
• If the result of the Challenge is successful then the requesting team maintains the number of Challenges available to them at the time of the request
• If the original referee decision is proved correct (unsuccessful Challenge), the number of Challenges available to the team requesting the Challenge will decrease by one for that particular set
• The 1st Referee has the right to request a Challenge should he/she feel unclear about a decision in a rally that is close to the end of a set or match or which will either influence or decide the result of the set or match
Challenges can be made in the following situations only:
• A ball touching the floor close to the line (ball ‘IN’ or ball ‘OUT’)
• Ball contact with the antennae
• A player commits a net fault (including touching the antennae)
• Contact of player’s feet with;
– the end line when executing a service;
– the attack line when a back row player executes an attack hit
– the opponents court – i.e. is completely over the centre line
• Block contact (with the ball)
The Challenge Referee is responsible for reviewing the video screens together with the Challenge Operator and for communicating his/her findings based on the video replays verbally over the wireless communication system to the 1st Referee, who will make the final decision.
At this point the Challenge Operator will be able to release the images/clips to the video screens in the competition hall and to the host broadcaster confirming the decision.
If inconclusive footage results in the Challenge Referee being unable to make a ruling, the original decision is upheld and the team maintains the number of Challenges available to them at the time of the request and the match resumes.
If the referee is unsure about a decision, but in addition the Challenge System also cannot determine conclusively what occurred, then the 1st Referee will direct the rally to be replayed.
“I am very pleased with the further use of modern technology that we have planned for the upcoming Final Four tournaments,” CEV President André Meyer says. “The improved Challenge System helps us deliver a modern, positive image of our sport which keeps on evolving with the times. We are continually looking for solutions and applications that can improve our sport’s credibility and general perception. The Challenge System is only one of many applications we are implementing at our major events and I am confident that our work in this direction will open up a new era for Volleyball refereeing and, more in general, for our sport as well.”