The Competition System

A total of 48 men’s and 48 women’s teams will take part in the 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships. The total number of athletes will be 96 men and 96 women (grand total of 192 athletes).

The total number of matches will be 216, comprising of 108 men’s and 108 women’s matches. The 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships will consist of a Preliminary phase (Pool Play), a lucky-loser round and a Single Elimination phase, for both genders.

Preliminary phase: Pool Play

48 teams playing in (12) pools of four (4) teams each played in standard Round Robin system. A drawing of lots will be held on 4 June 2019 in Town Hall of Hamburg to establish the seeding and distribution into pools.

Every team will play the three other teams in their pool. The ranking of teams within their pools will be determined by the total number of match points, with the following points awarded per match to each team:

Rules for pool ranking

• Winner earns 2 match points. Loser earns 1 match point.
  • Match won: 2 points
  • Match lost: 1 point
  • Match forfeited: 0 points (21:0; 21:0) 

• For all matches the final team ranking will be determined in accordance with the results of the matches (won or lost). For each match won the winning team will earn 2 match points, for each match lost the losing team will earn 1 match point and for each forfeited match the winning team will earn 2 match points while the forfeited team will have 0 points. 

• All discontinued matches or matches not commenced are to be assessed by the TD to determine if the losing team is “DSQ” or “INJ/DSQ” and whether they will receive any match points.

• If a team withdraws due to an injury before or during a match or gets disqualified during a match it will earn 1 match point and will keep the sets and points earned up to that moment, but the sets and points against will be the maximum. For example, if a team wins the first set 21:19 and is injured and forfeits the match when they are losing the second set 4:6, this injured team would earn 1 match point with sets of 1:2 and rally points of 21:19, 4:21 and 0:15. In this example, the winning team would get 2 match points with sets of 2:1 and rally points of 19:21, 6:4, 0:0. In addition, its match result will be marked with “INJ/DSQ”.

• If the injury occurs before the match begins, the match will be marked “INJ/DSQ” and the losing team will be awarded 1 match point with sets of 0:2 and rally points of 0:21, 0:21. In this case, the winning team will be awarded 2 match points with sets of 2:0 and rally points of 0:0, 0:0.

• If a team withdraws without a valid reason before a match (e.g. no show) or during a match (e.g. refusal to continue) they will lose by forfeit 0-2 (0:21, 0:21) and will earn 0 match points. In addition, this match result will be marked with “DSQ”. The winning team will receive 2 match points with sets of 2:0 and rally points of 0:0, 0:0.

• If a team is disqualified during the pool play due to a positive doping test, it will lose all the matches in the pool (played or to be played) by forfeit (see above). It will receive no rank. All of the team’s matches in the Pool will be recorded as a forfeit for ranking purposes. (e.g. All winning teams receive - Sets 2:0 - Rally Points 0:0, 0:0).

• If a team is disqualified after the pool play (after the Drawing of Lots for single elimination phase) of the tournament due to a positive doping test, it will lose the last pool matches played by forfeit (see above). If the single elimination phase has already started and if they have not played yet they forfeit their match and the opponent will be then moved to the next round. The final pool ranking will be maintained. If the team already played its match and won the match, the match result will not be changed, and this team will forfeit the next round.

• However, if a team is disqualified from the tournament due to a positive doping test after the conclusion of the drawing of lots (for the seeding of the single elimination phase) but before the commencement of the first match of the single elimination phase, they will be replaced in the draw directly by the next eligible team(s) eliminated from the tournament to be decided by FIVB/organizer. And the final pool ranking will be maintained. The disqualified team will receive no final ranking. It should be shown on the bottom of the final standing without rank and “DSQ”.

In the case of a tie in the pools (match points) during the round robin, the following rules will apply:

Between two teams:

• The team with higher rally points ratio in the matches between all teams in the pool, is ranked higher.
• If a tie still exists by rally points ratio then the teams have the same position in ranking.

Between three teams:

• If three teams have a tie in the main points, then the top teams are determined by the rally points ratio in the matches between the three tied teams.
• If a tie still exists, then the teams have the same position in the ranking.

Between four teams:

• The ranking is determined by the rally points ratio between all teams in the pool.
• If a tie still exists, then the teams have the same position in the ranking. 

In the case of a tie in the pools (match points) at the end of the round robin, the following rules will apply:

Between two teams:

• The team with higher rally points ratio in the matches between all teams in the pool, is ranked higher.
• If a tie still exists, then the tie is determined by the tournament seeding established at the General Technical Meeting (the better seed of the tied teams is the top ranked team, i.e. seed 12 is ranked higher than seed 13).

Between three teams:

• Teams are ranked by the rally points ratios in the matches between the three tied teams.
• If a tie still exists, then the teams still tied are ranked by the rally points ratio between all teams in the pool.
• If a tie still exists then the teams still tied are determined by the tournament seeding established at the General Technical Meeting (the better seed of the tied teams ranked higher, i.e. seed 12 is ranked higher than 13).

The first two ranked teams from each pool, and the best four teams that rank third in their respective pools (first by match points, then by set ratio followed by rally point ratio and lastly by tournament seeding established at the general technical meeting), will advance automatically to the final phase. The eight remaining third-ranked teams in each pool will play a four-match lucky loser round (5^th ranked vs. 12^th ranked, 6^th ranked vs. 11^th ranked, 7^th ranked vs. 10^th ranked, while 8^th ranked vs. 9^th ranked); the four winning teams in the lucky loser round will also qualify for the final phase, making a total of 32 teams.

Single Elimination Phase

The Single Elimination phase will start with the round of 32, which will be played in single elimination format to qualify sixteen teams for the round of 16.

Round of 16

The Round of 16 will be played in single elimination format to qualify eight teams for the quarterfinals.

Quarterfinals & Semi-finals

The quarterfinals will be played in single elimination format to qualify the 4 teams for the semi-finals.

Finals

The winners of the semi-finals will play the gold medal match and the losers will play the bronze medal match.