GUIDES · BETSLIP DOCTOR
When is an indoor-volleyball time-out request merely rejected, and when does it become a delay sanction?
A regular FIVB time-out may be requested during the interruption after a completed rally, when the ball is out of play and before the service whistle. Each team has up to two per set; the usual duration is 30 seconds, with a specified FIVB-approved adjustment for named competitions. A first improper request that neither affects nor delays play is rejected and recorded without another consequence. Further improper requests by that team in the match are delays; the first delay is a warning and later delays cost a point and service.
For Readers following a rejected time-out request and why later incidents can cost a point and service. · Updated
The ordinary request has a defined window
A regular interruption is the interval between a completed rally and the first referee’s whistle for the next service. A time-out request must be made while the ball is out of play and before that whistle. The coach may request it; in the coach’s absence, the assistant coach or game captain may do so.
Each team may request a maximum of two time-outs per set. The usual duration is 30 seconds. In FIVB, World and Official Competitions, the duration may be adjusted if the FIVB approves an organizer’s request. Those competitions must use the buzzer and then the hand signal to request a time-out.
The first harmless improper request is not a delay warning
A request during a rally or at or after the service whistle is improper. If it is the team’s first improper request of the match and it does not affect or delay the game, the request is rejected and recorded without another consequence. This narrow exception is why the first rejected request is not automatically the team’s first delay warning.
Later delays use a team-wide match counter
Any further improper request by the same team in the match constitutes a delay. The first delay by that team in the match receives a delay warning. The second and later delays by any member of that team cost a point and service to the opponent. These delay sanctions last for the match; they do not restart when a new set begins. A delay sanction imposed before or between sets applies in the following set.
After a request is rejected and sanctioned with a delay warning, that team cannot request another regular interruption during the same interruption, before the next completed rally.
Video challenges have a separate time-out restriction
The 2026 FIVB Video Challenge System Regulations set a separate rule: the team that requested a challenge cannot request a time-out before the next completed rally after the challenge result, where those regulations govern. That challenge-specific sequence belongs to the video-challenge procedure; it does not replace the ordinary request and delay rules here.
Confirm the competition’s adopted rules
The official FIVB index lists the indoor 2025–2028 English edition as current. The February 2026 tests announcement covers selected named event groups and says rule updates are subject to review. Neither source establishes how every tournament adopted the rules or whether a separate event instruction applies.
A fictional match with no earlier delay history
After the service whistle, a coach makes a time-out request that neither changes nor delays play. The first improper request is rejected and recorded without another consequence. Later in the match, a repeated improper request is the team’s first delay and earns a warning. A further delay by anyone on that team costs a point and service. In a separate interruption, a properly timed request within the two-time-out set limit remains an ordinary time-out request.
Related questions
Does the team’s delay count reset at the next set?
No. Delay sanctions remain in force for the match. The two-time-out allowance is counted per set, while delay history is team-wide for the match.
What restriction follows a rejected request that receives a delay warning?
The team cannot request another regular game interruption in that same interruption before the next completed rally.
Can a challenge request affect when a team may take a time-out?
Yes, under the 2026 Video Challenge System Regulations a challenging team cannot request a time-out before the next completed rally after the result, where those regulations apply. That is separate from the ordinary time-out sequence.
Sources and further reading
- FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025–2028, Rules 15.1, 15.2.4, 15.3.1, 15.4.1–15.4.2 and 15.11.1–15.11.3; printed pp. 36–39.
- FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025–2028, Rules 16.1–16.2.4; printed pp. 39–40.
- FIVB Volleyball Video Challenge System Regulations 2026, Sections 5.3–5.4; PDF p. 3.
- FIVB Official Volleyball Rules index, current 2025–2028 English edition; checked October 15, 2026.
- FIVB Board of Administration approves rule tests for 2026 competitions, published February 27, 2026; test scope.