FIVB Sports Regulations 2020
November 2020 edition; established the Gender Eligibility Committee, set the fee for changing federation of origin, and devoted a separate section to agents and financial disputes.
| Adoption | 3 November 2020 — FIVB Board of Administration |
| Structure | Four sections: status of players and teams, agents, disputes, final provisions |
| Status | Superseded — replaced by the May 2026 edition |
What are the FIVB Sports Regulations?
The Sports Regulations of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) govern the status of players, teams, leagues and agents: eligibility to play for a national team and nationality, age categories and conditions for competing in a gender category, change of federation of origin, transfer of players, licensing of agents and their rights and obligations, and the handling of financial disputes between clubs, players, coaches and agents before the FIVB Tribunal.
About the November 2020 editionChanges from June 2018
Key changes from the previous edition
- Gender Eligibility CommitteeWhere a player's birth certificate does not match their first registration in volleyball, the matter is examined by the Gender Eligibility Committee, a committee that must include at least one male and one female member and must issue a reasoned decision.
- Fee for changing federation of originA change of federation of origin is possible only with the approval of the FIVB Board of Administration and requires an official form signed and stamped by the player and both federations. The administrative fee is fifteen thousand Swiss francs, rising to twenty-five thousand francs where the player has played for a senior national team. Where the player has acquired the nationality of the country of the receiving federation, a separate route is provided at a cost of two thousand francs.
- Transfers between federations within one confederationIt was made explicit that a transfer between two national federations belonging to the same confederation is also governed by the FIVB regulations, and those regulations prevail over the confederation's regulations.
- Separate section on agentsA separate section was devoted to agents: eligibility conditions, the licensing procedure, registration in the VIS system, and termination of activity, together with a five thousand franc guarantee and an annual registration fee of one thousand francs.
- Financial disputes and the FIVB TribunalA separate chapter was devoted to financial disputes between clubs, players, licensed agents and coaches and to the procedure before the FIVB Tribunal, together with a sanction for failure to comply with a decision.
Who this document matters to
The most frequently used volleyball document for sports lawyers. A financial dispute between a club and a foreign player or coach, an international transfer of a player, and eligibility to play for a national team are all determined in this text. The forum for financial disputes is the FIVB Tribunal, and failure to comply with its decisions carries a separate sanction.