If you see someone wearing a different color than their teammates during a team athletics , there ’s a good chance it ’s the goaltender . Soccerand icehockeygoalies , for example , always wear out Jersey that do n’t match the squad uniforms ; body of water polo goalies wearred capsto set them apart .
For indoor volleyball , on the other mitt , there is no goalie — but there ’s still a player on each team whose jersey crash with everyone else ’s . As PopSugarreports , that ’s a justificatory specialist called a “ libero . ” It ’s a comparatively raw positioning , launched internationally in 1998 to encourage longer , more elaborate exchange ( a mass meeting is everything that pass between the service and the end of a romp ) .
This is because liberos are n’t just adept defenders . They ’re also some of thebest passerson the court , which makes them instrumental in setting up unsavoury plays . That said , there are several action they ’re not allowed to take : serving , block , spiking , or any other plan of attack hit that takes place when “ the musket ball is entirely higher than the top of the cyberspace . ” And while liberos can play any spot in the back run-in , they — unlike the rest of their teammates — never circumvolve to the front row . Basically , liberos are responsible for for help the offense , but they ca n’t actually touch in the offense themselves .
Because volleyball game involve so much rotating , and there ’s no terminus ad quem on the routine of times liberos can be substituted in and out of the game ( called “ replacements ” because they do n’t contribute to the squad ’s overall transposition count ) , it would be unmanageable for referee to keep track of them if they dressed like their teammates . And considering all the relocation liberos ca n’t do , it ’s especially important for referee to be capable to spot them without have to learn their names , numbers , and/or faces . So the FIVB rule rule book mandate that liberos wear “ a different prevalent color from any color of the rest of the team ” [ PDF ] .
In shortsighted , liberos wear counterpoint colors for the same ground netkeeper do : They have a unlike caper and different rules than the other players , so it ’s easier for everyone if they stand out from the rest .
Find More result to Olympics Questions :
A interpretation of this story was published in 2021 ; it has been updated for 2024 .
