No more fake injuries, at least hopefully. The Fivb took a little longer than it should have but came to the conclusion that the injury farce of one of the two teams that were supposed to play in the final of the Challenge groups must end immediately.
The case it exploded in the two Brazilian tournaments on the world circuit, two Challenges, in fact, medium-high level tournaments that have a bug in the rules. Winning the group, in fact, does not give great advantages compared to second place. If things go well, the first-placed teams in the group will face the best third-placed teams in the round of 16, if things go badly, they will face the worst second-placed teams, and the second-placed teams will face the first-placed teams in the round of 16. Little difference in values, preferable to play it on odd or even terms and skip a match in the program to get to the direct elimination phase more rested.
After two tournaments in which a total of 18 matches were missed, the FIVB saw fit to intervene to avoid further havoc by writing a letter to coaches and players. Let’s say a sort of first warning: “Beach Pro Tour athletes are not simply participants, but are also ambassadors of the sport, inspiring countless individuals around the world with their skill, determination and passion, and above all with their spirit of sportsmanship.” reads the premise of the letter also sent to the Federations “As you know, each athlete has completed the FIVB online training course on preventing competition manipulation prior to their participation in international beach volleyball tournaments, and the FIVB is committed to combating any inappropriate actions and minimizing the risk of manipulation in its competitions.” .
The second part of the letter leaves no room for interpretation: “The FIVB intends to examine all future cases of injury-related withdrawals to determine whether such withdrawals constitute competition manipulation in violation of the FIVB Disciplinary Regulations. The FIVB is also examining a revised competition format that would incentivize teams to give maximum effort to excel. in the group. The aim is to implement the new format in Challenge tournaments from the beginning of June once approved, while maintaining the current format to maintain consistency during the Paris 2024 Olympic qualification period“.
Between now and June, therefore, nothing will change in the two Challenges scheduled in Xiamen and Stare Jablonki, there will only be a tightening of controls for possible injuries during the finals for the first place in the groups. From October onwards, the impression is that the qualification system for the direct elimination phase may change: the worst first and second teams of each group reach the round of 16, the best four first teams have already qualified for the quarter-finals. A few fewer games (eight in total) but the certainty that no one can afford to pretend to be injured anymore.
Tags: Beach volleyball FIVB announces change Challenge format June checks injuries
