CEV and FIVB to work closer than ever to herald new era for volleyball

Luxembourg, Luxembourg, November 12, 2016 – As they addressed representatives of as many as 53 National Federations attending the XXXVII CEV General Assembly in Luxembourg City, CEV President Aleksandar Boricic and FIVB President Dr Ary S. Graça F° expressed their intention to work closely together to further grow Volleyball and modernise its image and perception, thus heralding a new era for the sport on the global stage.

“Welcome to Luxembourg and welcome to the meeting which brings together all members of our Volleyball family, or as the slogan of this year’s Congress reads, of our Volleyball team! You will soon realise by yourselves that this year’s Congress in this impressive set up will be different in many ways. We will showcase that Volleyball in Europe is entering a totally new era when it comes to its management, perception and image,” the CEV President said.
“We will share with you many plans and projects we have been designing together with all of you in order to further grow our sport at all levels. We will also showcase the strong sense of unity and cohesion, solidarity and respect that our Volleyball team stands out for. However, in order to make this Congress a success we need your contribution and active participation. Therefore, we look forward to listening to your voice in order to better define what we can do to herald a bright future for Volleyball, Beach Volleyball and Snow Volleyball,” Mr Boricic said.

President Graça said: “I am happy with the opportunity to attend this Congress and to be able to address so many of you. You can be sure that Europe will no longer be forgiven, because we now share the same vision and goals and will work as closely as ever in order to grow Volleyball worldwide. I have come to Luxembourg in order to listen to your ideas and proposals, I am here to learn and not to talk. I look forward to having a fruitful exchange of views and experiences and am always at your disposal to discuss anything which can help us raise the profile of our sport, in Europe and all over the world as well.”

After the official opening, the CEV President summed up some of the key points he and the other members of the new Leadership have been working on: “We must change our mentality, our approach has to be different from the past, and we need to use technology as extensively as possible in order to grow and modernise our sport. We must run our organisation like any other business because with no money we cannot invest into actions that can go to the benefit of all 56 National Federations,” he said.

“We must start cooperating a lot closer with national, regional and local authorities to raise more funds to be invested in Volleyball. I personally visited 20 countries since last year’s elections, and together with my colleagues we were able to establish good connections with an impressive number of national sports authorities, Ministries, governments, Olympic Committees, and this is already paying dividends.

“We invested €3 million in 12 months, but this is only the beginning of an exciting journey. You can rest assured that the CEV will always be at your side, supporting each one of you in your efforts and actions to develop Volleyball in your respective countries, while at the same time focussing on promoting our star players and their results. I am confident that all together we can compose one united team and achieve great results,” Mr Boricic concluded.