THE Premier Volleyball League will do away with the switching of court sides and handshakes for the Open Conference blasting off on Saturday at the PCV Socio-Civic Cultural Center in Baccara, Ilocos Norte.
The FIVB Volleyball Nations League was the first to implement the changes last May to minimize close contact between competing teams.
“It’s for their own good. It’s also because the teams have their own equipment, and water, so if someone’s infected, we could prevent further spread of the virus,” PVL president Ricky Palou said. “The teams understand, in fact they welcome the rule as safety precautionary measures.” Team handshakes will also no longer be part of the game routine to eliminate possible close contact among players.
League commissioner Tony Boy Liao also said that the 10 teams seeing action in the country’s first professional volleyball league will have to observe the strict bubble protocols set by the organizing committee, Games and Amusements Board and the local government of Ilocos Norte.
During pre-game warm-ups, teams can only use their side of the court for 30 minutes before the toss coin and team introductions. Players are also required to wear face masks.
Once the game begins, the teams’ starting six, liberos and head coaches can opt to keep or remove their masks. However, the rest of the coaching staff and substitutes are obliged to still wear their respective masks.
PLDT and Chery Tiggo kicks off hostilities at 1 p.m. followed by the Perlas-Cignal faceoff at 4 p.m. Creamline and Sta. Lucia cap the triple-bill at 7 p.m.
Games will be held without an audience but will be telecast on One Sports (Free to Air), and One Sports+ (Pay TV) with both channels available for linear streaming on Cignal Play and on gigafest.smart. Games can also be viewed via live streaming on pvl.ph.