1. In order to authorize the service, it is not necessary to check that the server is ready -- only that the player to serve is in possession of the ball. The first referee must whistle immediately.
In normal flow of the game (no substitution, no sanction, etc.) when the referees notice that the player is delaying to take his/her position in the service zone, even having received the ball from the ball retriever, he/she must whistle for service as soon as the player steps into the service zone, regardless if the player has his/her back turned or has not yet reached his/her serving position. The objective of this regulation is to keep the pace of play and shorten the duration of the matches. Some players use certain ‘rituals’ that cause unnecessary delays in the game. To correct these bad habits, it is necessary that ALL referees apply theses instructions rigorously from the beginning of the match.
2. Before the 1st referee whistles for service, he/she should check whether a re-play is requested by TV and should delay whistling; its frequency and duration may vary on different competitions accordingly.
3. The first referee and the corresponding line judges (if used) must pay attention to the position of the server at the moment of the service hit or take off for a jump service. The server may start his/her service motion outside the service zone but must be fully inside at the time of contact (or the foot making the final contact with the floor must be fully inside the service zone at the moment of the take-off).
4. When the ball is being served, the first referee must watch the serving team, while the second referee watches the receiving team.
5. If the server is not coming normally to the service zone or does not accept the ball from the ball retriever, making intentional delay, the team can receive a delay sanction. In order to avoid misinterpretation, the 8 seconds counts immediately after the first referee whistled for service.
6. The 1st referee should pay attention to screening during the execution of the service when a player or group of players of the serving team is waving arms, jumping or moving sideways or by standing grouped to prevent the opponent from seeing the server and flight path of the ball until the ball crosses the vertical plane of the net.
If the served ball can be seen clearly throughout its path, until it crosses the net to the opponent, it cannot be considered as a screen.
Referees must be more zealous in taking care of the teams’ intentions to create a screen and prevent from the beginning of the game that the teams abuse the screening rule with the excuse of ‘tactical strategy.’ Therefore, when a team is CLEARLY GROUPED with the intention of screening, or players are with hands above head height (they may, however, protect their heads for safety reasons but must not raise their hands above the head), the referee can indicate this to the serving team by:
6.1. Blowing his / her whistle to separate the players.
6.2. By verbally advising the team captain.
If the players do not adjust at the direction provided, the first referee MUST CALL THE SCREEN after the service. It is necessary that ALL referees apply these instructions from the beginning of the matches, to reverse this trend that affects fair play.
7. The service cannot be authorized with whistle by the first referee if the team does not have the correct number of players (e.g. there are 5 or 7 players) on court. In such cases, he/she should wait and remind the team and, if necessary, should issue a delay sanction. A similar procedure should be applied if a libero rotated into the position 4 and clearly is not replaced by the respective player.
8. If the service was not executed by the player according to the team’s line-up, i.e. rotational fault occurred and it was discovered only after the end of the rally which started with rotational fault, only a single point should be awarded to the receiving team. (Rule 7.7.1.1).
The next rally should be started after the 2nd referee checks that the rotational order is correct.