Hello everyone,
We, the IQA Rules Team, discussed possible changes for the next edition of the rulebook. We start with giving you a list and then go through the timeline and include some thoughts behind the changes.
I Procedures
1. Game is started by a whistle blast
2. Allow request to fix dislodged hoops in the vicinity of the the midline, removing need for special reset procedure
3. A stalled Volleyballs gets inbounded at the spot of the stall instead of the sideline
4. Remove conditions for substitutions before Overtime
5. During Overtime a timeout may be taken during a lull in play
II Remounting
6. Introduce Middle-Hoop-Tag-In
7. Allow Off-Stick-Substitutions (including remount)
III Balls
8. Fingers holding a ball are safe from beats
9. All balls in contact with an out of bounds player are out of bounds
10. Team Benches are required to stop balls
IV Penalties
11. Remove mandatory warning for accidental dislodging hoop
12. Remove Illegal Reset to no receiver (2 resets still result in a turnover)
13. Even if the Penalty Time for a foul gets negated, the player will now be off-broom.
14. Delayed Penalties are now adjudicated by the Delayed Penalties Procedure no matter who called them. (Previously it made a difference if it was HR or AR)
V Organisational
15. Reduce amount of Referee Signals and remove pictures from rulebook in favor of a link where the GIFs are displayed
16. Allow 5% Pitch Size variations
17. Goal is 1 Point (instead of 10), Flag Catch is 3 Points (instead of 30)
18. Remove restrictions on when a FR may be used as AR (FR may simply be used as AR)
VI Seeker
19. Remove Seeker Check-In with Timekeeper
20. Remove Penalty for intentionally failing to send seeker into play
VII Contact
21. Clarify Rules on Pushes (non-forceful initiation)
22. Simplify Right of way (applies only if no other rule applies, Right is in the following order: 1. standing > moving, 2. ball > no ball 3. chaser > seeker > beater)
VIII Misc
23. Unify Paragraphs 5.3.2, 5.3.3 and 5.3.4 (not really a rule change)
24. Remove the mention of non-playing coaches in Rule 1.1.2 (just irrelevant)
25. Unify Improper Immunity Claim under Minor Invalid Immunity Claim
26. Reduce first heatbreak to 2 Minutes or move Heat Rules to a separate policy
With the last rulebook released 2 years ago, we decided we wanted to release a new rulebook in 2026. Afterwards we will switch to a post-WC cycle again. Therefore the next edition will already be happening in 2027 and 2029 after that. For that reason we decided to postpone some possible changes to the 2027 rulebook to have more time to gather ideas and talk through possibilities.
From now on until the 05th of April we have a public consultation phase. We ask you all to comment on our suggestion. Please make sure that we came up with good rules. You can either directly interact with this post or use our feedback form.
As you might notice the changes are not in rulebook format yet. So while you comment on everything we will be busy and bringing the changes into rulebook format. When we have gathered all your feedback we will review all our changes including our suggested wordings again. Only rules that pass another Rules Team vote will be adapted in the 2026 rulebook. We might make (minor) adjustments to the suggestions based on your feedback. New suggestions will be delayed until the 2027 rulebook.
We will list some of our reasons for the changes below. We hope that this helps you understand the changes and their goals. The list of reasons is not exhaustive and not all Rule Team Members share all of the reasons.
I Procedures
1. Game is started by a whistle blast
The “S”-sound of “sticks up” is not clear enough as compared to a “B”-sound. With a whistle blast we have a clear start of the game. This also unifies starting and restarting procedures, with the game going live on a whistle blast every time.
2. Allow request to fix dislodged hoops in the vicinity of the the midline, removing need for special reset procedure
Currently we have a procedure to deal with Hoop Resets without using the allowed reset. We simplify this by allowing the same procedure to be used in the own half and within the vicinity of the midline.
3. A stalled Volleyball gets inbounded at the spot of the stall instead of the sideline
A stalled Volleyball should not lead to a stopped game. But moving the volleyball-carrier to the sideline always created an abnormal situation for our sport. We decided to adapt the inbounding procedure to allow a stalled volleyball to be inbounded at the spot of the foul. This could be a throw only inbounding to have a clear distinction when the inbounding happened in absence of a line.
4. Remove conditions for substitutions before overtime
Currently one substitution is allowed when a team would otherwise break the gender rule with the start of overtime. We decided to just make it one allowed substitution for any reason to simplify.
5. During Overtime a timeout may be taken during a lull in play
A lull-in-play-timeout is forbidden as soon as the flag is on pitch since a timeout could affect the seeker game disproportionally. With the start of overtime this reason is not valid anymore. Therefore there is no reason not to allow these.
II Remounting
6. Introduce Middle-Hoop-Tag-In
With positive effects reported from different regions that already use Middle-Hoop-Tag-In we want to bring this into the international rulebook. Primarily because it allows more tactical beats close to hoops. It will be harder to “camp” the outer hoops and therefore strengthens offensive beaters.
7. Allow Off-Stick-Substitutions (including remount)
We wanted to allow off-stick players to simply sub-out. It simplifies a procedure and allows players to leave the game when they need to without additional procedures. This should also provide seekers an option if they want to avoid possibly crowded hoops.
III Balls
8. Fingers holding a ball are safe from beats
Beats on fingers that hold a ball are usually not clearly observeable. We therefore decided to follow dodgeball-rules at least partially and make fingers safe from beats.
9. All balls in contact with an out of bounds player are out of bounds
Currently dodgeballs and volleyballs are treated differently if they are in contact with an out of bounds player. We decided to unify rules here to make it simpler to remember for everyone.
10. Team Benches are required to stop balls
Currently players are required to move out of the way to the best of their ability. This leads to players navigating through crowded team benches and nearby equipment. To minimize injury risk and speed up gameplay at the same time, sub boxes are required to stop all balls. If they don’t stop balls for the other team it will count as sideline interference.
IV Penalties
11. Remove mandatory warning for accidental dislodging hoop
Accidental Hoop dislodging can have a huge effect on the offense. A mandatory warning (since penalty only applies to repeated occurrences) can lead to a huge disadvantage. We want to give referees the power to decide if it warrants a card or NHNF (incl. warning) is applicable.
12. Remove Illegal Reset to no receiver (2 resets still result in a turnover)
With a reset crossing both restrictor lines being illegal and the general delay of game rule, we feel it is sufficient and this rule is no longer needed. Additionally the double reset is easier to judge. We want to note that delay of game still applies.
13. Even if the Penalty Time for a foul gets negated, the player will now be off-broom
This unifies handling of players at the “end” of a penalty time. It also ensures that a card is always a more severe punishment than a back-to-hoops.
14. Delayed Penalties are now adjudicated by the Delayed Penalties Procedure no matter who called them. (Previously it made a difference if it was HR or AR)
Besides the unification, and therefore simplification, this also means that situations where the fouled player is being “teleported” right in front of an undefended hoop can no longer happen. Keep in mind that a player that receives the volleyball can still decide to start at a restrictor line/the endline.
V Organisational
15. Reduce amount of Referee Signals and remove pictures from rulebook in favor of a link where the GIFs are displayed
Referee signals are primarily to communicate. This is not possible if they are not remembered. Therefore we want to reduce the amount of signals so they might be remembered. If they are picked up we might reinstate them. Additionally some of the signals are more clearly understood with dynamic images, which the current pdf does not illustrate.
16. Allow 5% Pitch Size variations
To make it easier on tournament organisation we want to allow a 5% pitch size variation. That way side- and endlines might be better aligned to already available field markings. This change is in line with other sports, such as soccer.
17. Goal is 1 Point (instead of 10), Flag Catch is 3 Points (instead of 30)
The 0 bears no additional information but leads to our sport needing scoreboards with an extra digit. Also it is easier to verbally indicate.
18. Remove restrictions on when a FR may be used as AR (FR may simply be used as AR)
A simplification of the rules. Keep in mind that it is the decision of the HR if they want to use the FR as AR at all.
VI Seeker
19. Remove Seeker Check-In with Timekeeper
It is an unnecessary rule. Seeker will show up at the timekeeper anyway to be released and go for the flag runner.
20. Remove Penalty for intentionally failing to send seeker into play
This rule was introduced to especially deal with teams delaying the seeker start to avoid breaking the gender rule. Keep in mind that all teams still have to field a full team.
VII Contact
21. Clarify Rules on Pushes (non-forceful initiation)
We want to clarify rules here. Especially making clear that pushes can’t be used to effectively charge into players.
22. Simplify Right of way (applies only if no other rule applies, Right is in the following order: 1. standing > moving, 2. ball > no ball 3. chaser > seeker > beater)
Right of Way is currently too complicated and therefore hard to remember and hard to recall. With this simplification we hope that this rule will be applied more. We want to remind people that this doesn’t allow players to set picks against players of other positions or similar ideas.
VII Misc
23. Unify Paragraphs 5.3.2, 5.3.3 and 5.3.4 (not really a rule change)
The wording here is way more complicated than it needs to be and we want to clear it up.
24. Remove the mention of non-playing coaches in Rule 1.1.2 (just irrelevant)
Coaches are not distinct from any other team staffer and therefore don’t need a special mention.
25. Unify Improper Immunity Claim under Minor Invalid Immunity Claim
Since the penalties are the same, Improper Immunity Claim will be also named Minor Invalid Immunity Claim
26. Reduce first heatbreak to 2 Minutes or move Heat Rules to a separate policy
We talked about simplifying the heat policy by unifying all heat breaks to the same duration (2 Minutes). While looking at this we noticed large differences in sport facilities around the world. We therefore are thinking about removing the heat policy from the rulebook and instead installing a IQA Heat Policy that can be adapted by all members as needed and as applicable to their facilities. It would also allow to set boundaries for games being played at all.