A controversial situation from the match between France and Italy in the Volleyball Nations League caused serious discussions in European volleyball circles and questioned the work of the automated in/out ball judging system. Unfortunately for us, Ivaylo Ivanov, who was the first referee of the match, found himself in the eye of the storm.
With the score at 17:13 for Italy in the third set, Luca Porro's serve was called out by the automated system, which led to strong reactions from the Italian staff and players.
Subsequently, Italian journalist Giuliano Bindoni fromVolleyNews.itpublished a sharp commentary criticizing the reaction of the match's first referee, Ivaylo Ivanov. According to the author, the Bulgarian referee should have shown more initiative and not unconditionally trusted the technology.
The case also received repercussions outside Italy. Polish journalist Jakub Balcerzak also shared footage of the situation on the social network X, with the focus again placed on the discrepancy between TV replays and the automated system's visualization.
However, at the heart of the dispute lies an important detail from the regulations of the Volleyball Nations League.
According to the current rules, in/out ball checks via video replay are performed only in the absence of an automated judging system. The regulations explicitly state that a video replay for an in/out ball can only be requested in the following case:
"Ball In/Out (ONLY in the absence of an automated system)".
This means that when an automated system is present, such situations are not subject to a standard video challenge by the teams.
In practice, the decision on whether the ball is in or out is made directly by the system and cannot be challenged through the usual video replay procedure.
It was precisely for this reason that the protests of the Italian volleyball players did not lead to a new review of the situation.
Interestingly, the discussion did not focus so much on whether the ball was actually in or out of bounds. The available TV replays do not provide a definitive answer to this question.
The controversy arose due to the visible discrepancy between the television footage and the graphical visualization shown by the automated system. While in the replays the ball appears to land immediately next to the sideline, the computer reconstruction shows it significantly further into the out zone.
Thus, the case opened a much broader debate than the specific rally.
The question is no longer just whether the specific call was correct, but what the procedure is when the automated system works normally, but the visualization shown raises doubts among players, coaches, and spectators.
Currently, the international federation's rules provide for actions in case of a technical malfunction of the system, but do not provide a clear mechanism for additional review in situations like the one from the match between France and Italy.
Similar, but even more striking incidents occurred again yesterday, this time in the Brazil/Iran match.
Therefore, the dispute surrounding the rally in question is gradually shifting from the referee's personality to the reliability of the technology and its operational procedures – a topic that will certainly remain relevant in future national team tournaments.
