FIVB examines TV-friendly coloured Volleyball court to distinguish attack & defence zones

  • The FIVB is considering the use of a TV-friendly coloured Volleyball court in international tournaments to distinguish attack and defence zones. The suggestion came from the last FIVB Television & New Media Commission meeting and could be a development for Volleyball courts in the future.


    The move would help players, courtside fans and television viewers better differentiate between the three-metre attack zones and the areas behind the three-metre line.


    The Italian Men's League has already developed a court which not only distinguishes the different zones but also displays the colours of the Italian flag. This special court was used for the first time in the Italian All-Star Game last November, with the attack zones white and the defence zones green and red.


    After a careful analysis of the TV images provided by SKY Italia and the Italian League, FIVB Television and New Media Commission President Peter Diamond said, “We believe that the attack zones on both sides of the net should be a dull white, while the defence zones behind the three-metre line within the court should be powder blue. The area around the court should be a dull green for the best TV look.


    “This will provide the best highlighting of each zone and all the colours are television friendly.”


    The FIVB has also received a presentation of a system that detects whether the ball has landed “in” or “out.” The system, called “Sports Moles,” transmits this information to the first referee and the judges’ table to help the referee’s decision-making.


    The Sports Moles system has been part of the Italian Men’s League Serie A matches for more than a year. It introduces a border running around the court in a contrasting colour to the main court colours and white lines to clearly distinguish the area of detection.

  • That might look cool, actually! The pitch coloured for the Italian All-Star game looked really innovative! From the article, however, I don't understand how they are going to distinguish between the attack zones (coloured in dull white) and the middle line below the net, which should be white as well...

  • i think they should ask the players too, because they're the ones who are going to play on that type of field. i don't see how this could help very much (from the players point of view). i didn't hear anybody who watched volleyball at the TV complaining about the lines of the field, or any other inconvenient...