The Dodram V-League in the 2022-23 season will enter the 5th round schedule from the 31st after a short All-Star break. However, the IBK IBK and Pepper Savings Bank match held at the Hwaseong Gymnasium on the 26th is becoming a problem.
This is because the practice ball was used during the game. Volleyball fans first recognized this situation. At that time, the situation in which the ball with the stamp of the practice ball was used in the game appeared as it was during the third set through the TV relay screen.
Volleyball fans captured and posted the screen of the relay broadcast on the community, including the podcast broadcast bulletin board run by reporters in charge of volleyball. As the issue continued, the Korean Volleyball Federation (KOVO) 메이저놀이터 announced an apology for the situation on the 30th.
KOVO said, “As a result of the investigation by the federation, the match ball was confirmed without any problems before the start of the match, and the first and second sets were operated without any problems. However, during the break at the end of the second set, the practice ball the players were training and the match ball possessed by the ball retriever were mixed. It was confirmed that it could not be filtered out before the start of the set game,” he said. “The federation regrets the fans for this incident, and to prevent a recurrence in the future, we will strengthen management and training of game operators and ensure smooth operation of the remaining rounds. I will do my best for you,” he said.
However, it is not a situation where we can go ahead with an apology and promise that we will do our best to prevent recurrence and run the game. Responsibilities must be clear.
According to the rules of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), there is a provision that ‘you must play with FIVB official balls in FIVB, world and official competitions, as well as in domestic or champion leagues, unless FIVB consents.’ And according to Rule 3 of the FIVB Rules, the location of responsibility is clear.
This is the second item of Paragraph 3, ‘The assistant referee holds 5 balls for the game before the start of the game and checks whether all the balls have the same characteristics (color, circumference, weight, pressure). The assistant referee is responsible for the ball during the game’. Nam Young-soo was the assistant referee for the game that day.
In competitions hosted by FIVB, including the V-League, 6 match balls are prepared. The first item in Article 3 of the FIVB Rules is ▲ A (metal) ball stand to store 6 game balls near the scorer’s table (5 game balls + 1 spare ball).
You should check this before and after the game, as well as after each set. It seems that referee Nam, who was in charge of the assistant referee on this day, did not take a good look at this part.
If the South referee misses it, the third referee and the game operation committee must confirm it. The standby referee for the game was referee Song In-seok, and the game operation committee was former coach Lee Gyeong-seok.
The third set, in which the practice ball was used, was interrupted or the ball was not replaced, and the game ended with IBK Industrial Bank’s set score 3-0 victory.
The situation where the practice ball was used as a game ball was confirmed through a relay broadcast when IBK Industrial Bank of Korea was leading 17-12 in the third set. It is time for IBK Industrial Bank of Korea middle blocker Choi Jeong-min to pass (toss) to serve. However, it can be confirmed even in earlier situations.
With IBK Industrial Bank leading 10-7 in the 3rd set, middle blocker Suji Kim was holding a ball stamped with the ‘practice ball’ in the process of preparing to serve. Can a rematch be requested for the match? After all, the chances are low.