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The FIVB today marked its 75th
anniversary by reflecting on its incredible
journey so far and the even brighter future
ahead for volleyball.
The FIVB’s history began on 20
April 1947, when representatives from 14
countries met in Paris to found the global
governing body for the sport and elected
France’s Paul Libaud as its first President. In
its 75-year history, the FIVB has grown to 222
National Federations, while the sport has
developed into one of the world’s biggest sports
enjoyed by hundreds of millions across the
globe.
Over the past seven and a half
decades, the FIVB has experienced an array of
key milestones, including the organisation of
the first Volleyball World Championships in 1949
for men and 1952 for women, in addition to
joining the programme of the Olympic Games at
Tokyo 1964. Meanwhile, in beach volleyball, the
first FIVB-sanctioned tournament took place in
1987, and just nine years later the sport made
its Olympic debut at Atlanta 1996.
While volleyball may have grown
significantly over the past 75 years, the FIVB
has refocused its efforts over the past decade
and, under the leadership of FIVB President Dr
Ary S. Graça F°, accelerated the
professionalisation and modernisation of the
sport. These efforts have been focused on the
two key pillars of the FIVB President’s 2012
electoral campaign, innovation and opportunity,
while ensuring the principles of good governance
with the organisation’s objectives formulated in
its 11 Goals strategy and Nucleus Plan.
Innovation
Some of the key innovations in
the sport over the last ten years include the
introduction of a new standard of sports
presentation at the 2014 FIVB Volleyball World
Championships in Poland where over 62,000 fans
attended the opening match. Since then, the FIVB
has worked meticulously to enhance its sport
presentation, with the introduction of DJs,
announcers, video and light displays, sound
systems and so forth to engage and entertain
fans.
These efforts saw volleyball
named the most watched sport in terms of viewer
hours at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 (IOC Data
Report). And it was also at Rio 2016 that the
Challenge System was introduced for the first
time at the Olympic Games to promote fair play
and accuracy by allowing players, coaches and
referees to challenge decisions for an
instant-review.
These innovations also go beyond
changes to enhance existing events to creating
new, cutting-edge events all together. In 2018,
the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) was launched
to transform volleyball competitions. The annual
event, now in its fourth year, has become a fan-favourite
and true example of volleyball being at the
forefront of innovation and digital
broadcasting.
Some VNL highlights to date
include the VNL Men’s Finals 2018 in Lille,
France staged at the state-of-the-art Pierre
Mauroy football stadium, as well as the VNL 2021
which was held in a secure bubble in Rimini,
Italy. This VNL bubble saw more than 1,000
participants, with 572 volleyball players
competing across a total of 248 matches
throughout the month-long competition. A total
of 2,250 PCR tests and 7,920 antigen tests were
conducted over the course of the tournament with
just one positive case registered. The bubble
also hosted a TV production team of more than
100 people.
And perhaps one of the most
significant milestones of the FIVB’s 75-year
history was last year’s partnership with CVC
Capital Partners and the launch of Volleyball
World – the commercial entity for the sport
around the world.
The launch of Volleyball World
also saw the creation of another fresh new
event, only this time on the sand – the
Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. The new tour –
split into Elite 16, Challenger and Future
events – successfully got underway last month in
both Tlaxcala and Rosarito, Mexico.
The FIVB has also embraced
digital transformation to ensure that engaging
and high-quality content is available to fans
around the world. The sport’s digital presence
grew at a tremendous rate over the past few
years. For example, Volleyball World’s digital
channels – Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok
and Twitter – now boast over 13.4 million
followers, representing an increase of 3.4
million since March of 2020. And last October,
Volleyball World celebrated reaching over one
million followers on TikTok. In addition, fans
can access exciting content at Volleyball TV,
giving them the chance to enjoy some of the
greatest moments of the game and their
favourites stars and teams in action.
Opportunity
In parallel to innovations on the
court and new events, the FIVB has focused on
greater opportunity for all through development
support to National Federations. The support has
been concentrated in three key areas – coach
support, volleyball equipment and knowledge
transfer – to help equip National Federations
with the tools to ensure volleyball flourishes
in their countries from the grassroots through
to the elite level.
And in 2021, FIVB President Dr
Ary S. Graça F° also revealed the Volleyball
Empowerment programme, a year-around
revolutionary programme aimed at supporting
national teams, athletes and National
Federations to achieve their goals and reach
their full potential.
The FIVB continued to support
National Federations and athletes during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, since 2017, the FIVB
has approved 521 projects from 222 National
Federations from all five Continental
Confederations, which totals an investment of
over 11 million CHF. Of these 521 projects , 208
were coach support projects in 112 Countries,
277 were volleyball equipment projects for 125
countries and 36 were knowledge transfer
programmes for 28 countries. Additionally, 80
players from a wide range of countries in
Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Americas received
financial support for basic needs via the FIVB
Athletes’ Relief Support fund.
The FIVB also embraced the
opportunity to improve its annual event
calendar, reducing the number of events and
increasing their quality and consistency – the
famous “less is more” approach. The official
volleyball events for the current Olympic cycle
include the Olympic Games Paris 2024, the 2022
World Championships, the annual Volleyball
Nations League, the Continental Championships of
2021 and 2023, and their direct qualifying
events. The calendar also includes the annual
club season including national, continental and
international competitions.
Good Governance
Under the leadership of President
Dr Ary S Graça F°, the FIVB constantly works on
implementing the principles of transparency,
credibility and good governance in all its
activities.
The FIVB created its first ever
Athletes’ Commission during the Olympic Games
2016, and since then the Commission has been
working closely with the FIVB to ensure the
voice of the athletes is represented in the
decision-making process. Last year, the
Commission held its first-ever elections, and
following the decision of the FIVB World
Congress 2021, the President of the Athletes’
Commission is now representing the players as a
member of the FIVB Board of Administration for
the first time in history.
Additionally, the FIVB is
continually improving its regulatory framework
and has created the fully independent Ethics
Panel while also investing in educational
programmes on anti-doping and the prevention of
competition manipulation. Moreover, a thorough
bidding process is now implemented to select
hosts for all FIVB events with bidding documents
available to all 222 National Federations.
The FIVB is also a reliable
member of the Olympic Movement and enjoys good
relations with the IOC and its President Thomas
Bach, as well as with other International
Federations and sports governing bodies.
The global Volleyball Family will
have an opportunity to celebrate this important
milestone together at the 38th FIVB World
Congress which will take place from 22 to 25
September 2022 in Arnhem, Netherlands during the
first round of the prestigious FIVB Volleyball
Women’s World Championship. |
