FIVB Board of Administration drives Volleyball and Beach Volleyball forward 

Lausanne, 23 May 2006 – At the end of its three-day session in Lausanne, the FIVB Board of Administration confirmed the Executive Committee’s positive conclusions from earlier this week with its approval of numerous proposals designed to develop Volleyball and Beach Volleyball globally.

 
Furthermore, the FIVB Board also unanimously confirmed the candidature of incumbent President Dr Rubén Acosta for re-election for a further four years.  The candidature was presented by the Mexican National Federation, in accordance with the FIVB Constitution, and will be voted at the FIVB Congress, the sport’s highest decision-making body, in Tokyo in October, prior to the FIVB World Championships.

The FIVB Board - comprising Members from 31 countries – unanimously approved the Executive Committee’s conclusion that this was the only candidature presented in accordance with the FIVB Constitution.   The Executive Committee and Board had also considered, but dismissed, the personal candidature of the FIVB’s former General Manager presented by himself but which was not supported by an affiliated National Federation.

Following the verification of all documents and the Executive Committee’s recommendations, the Board also approved unanimously the new candidatures for the FIVB’s Board of Administration, Councils and Commissions, which will also go forward to the Congress for a total of 47 candidates to the Board and 144 to Councils and Commissions. The FIVB Board also dismissed and declared non receivable a personal candidature for the Board of Administration from a former Member whom it had expelled in 2003.  The Board noted that his candidature had not been supported by the FIVB-affiliated National Federation of his country, Argentina. The person in question, Mario Goijman had been suspended for financial irregularities and repeated breaches to the Constitution and the Code of Conduct- instead of defending himself against the charges - went on the attack against the FIVB and its President, an attack full of calumnies which continues to this day. The Board notes with pleasure that Argentinean volleyball is again reaching the highest standards under the leadership of its new National Federation, despite the continued disruptions provoked by Mr Goijman.

The FIVB Board of Administration also praised the work of the Commissions and Councils towards continued improvements in all aspects of the sport. In addition to exciting marketing proposals to bring new life into the FIVB competitions and communications, the meeting also heard of significant progress in the development of Volleyball and Beach Volleyball. Reports from the Sports Events Council and Beach Volleyball World Council confirmed that the Volleyball and Beach Volleyball are in excellent health, with the SWATCH FIVB World Tour enjoying a highly successful start to the season and the FIVB World League offering record-breaking prize money of 20 million US dollars in 2006. With participating teams for both events coming from all over the world and the venues equally widespread, both of these flagship tournaments for the FIVB have a genuinely global dimension.

As preparations for the 2006 FIVB World Championships are well under way, the meeting looked ahead to the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008 and London 2012. For Beijing, the excellent venues for Volleyball and Beach Volleyball were approved, whilst for London, the Board followed the FIVB Executive Committee’s recommendation to recognise a “Team Great Britain” for participation in the London 2012 Games, which will group players from the individual national federations of the United Kingdom.

The FIVB is the world governing body for Volleyball and Beach Volleyball, with 35 million registered players.  Its supreme governing body, the FIVB World Congress, at which all 218 National Federations affiliated to the FIVB are represented, will take place in Tokyo from 23-25 October 2006.