Had you tuned into the stream of the Volleyball World Gstaad Elite 16 early last month, you’d have noticed everything that makes the event, hosted in a valley the Swiss Alps, almost a unanimous favorite amongst players: Stands that were sold out weeks before the first serve, the breathtaking backdrop of snowcapped mountains, a smattering of the greatest beach volleyball players in the world.
Yet when the play began, you’d also have noticed something new. Something odd. Something disconcerting.
Whistles. Dozens and dozens of whistles.
Before the event, without consulting the players — though they were sent an email roughly a week prior — the rules on hand setting had shifted, becoming stricter on what is and what is not a lift.
No, actually. That’s not quite right.
“I was told multiple times: It’s not a change of the rule, it’s a change of the interpretation of the rule, which makes it quite subjective how you call it or how you judge it,” said Anouk Vergé-Dépré, who won a bronze medal for Switzerland in the Tokyo Olympics and serves as the president of the International Beach Volleyball Players Association.
“It impacted the game a lot and it still does, not only in Gstaad, but Espinho and it will continue.”
The sudden shift in the rules, or interpretation of them, left virtually everyone confused. Fans grew indignant at the volume of lifts being called, cascading boos upon the refs for calling lifts on sets that, just a week prior, at the World Championships, would have been acceptable. Not that it’s entirely the fault of the refs, either. They were given as much heads up as the players.
“Even the referees were confused and not able to maintain the same standard,” said the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Perusic, who defends for David Schweiner and is currently ranked No. 7 in the world. “Every game was different, every referee had to adjust the rules according to how he sees it, which created a big confusion, but on the other hand we cannot blame them for that, they did not come with the rules either.”
The result? Perusic estimated that there were six or seven incorrectly called lifts — on both sides — of his and Schweiner’s opening set in Gstaad, against Austrians Alex Huber and Chris Dressler. For the match, the number, by his count, swelled to 10, maybe 11.
“This is crazy considering that at least 90 percent of the…
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