The European Volleyball Confederation (french: Confédération Européenne de Volleyball or ''CEV'') is the continental

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

for the sports of indoor volleyball, beach volleyball, and

snow volleyball Snow volleyball is a winter team sport played by two teams of three players on a snow court divided by a net. The objective of each team is to score points by sending a ball over the net so as to ground it on the opponent's court, and to prevent ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. Its headquarters is located in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Gr ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

Profile

Although the CEV was formed on October 21, 1963, in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

volleyball became popular in Europe many years before. The majority of the teams that attended the Congress which eventually led to the foundation of the FIVB in 1947 were from this continent. In fact, the foundation itself is supposed to have been a move on the part of European national federations. Volleyball was invented in the United States, but became for the first time an extremely popular sport in eastern Europe, after being introduced by American soldiers during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. By the middle of the century, it had already spread through the rest of the continent as well. Many techniques and tactics that are commonplace in modern volleyball have been allegedly introduced by European teams. Amongst others, it would be worthy of note here: blocking (Czechoslovakia, 1938); penetration of the setter, which eventually led to the development of the so-called 5-1 system (

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, 1949); forearm pass (Czechoslovakia, 1958); and backrow attack (Poland, 1974). The long and significant tradition of the sport in the continent may at least partially account for the administrative structure employed by the CEV, which rivals the FIVB's in size and comprehensiveness. It is the biggest of all volleyball confederations, and the one that organizes the largest number of annual competitions and tournaments. As of 2005, its headquarters are located in Luxembourg. As the presiding entity over European volleyball federations, the CEV organizes continental competitions such as the prestigious European Championship (first edition, 1948), the CEV Cup and the European League. It participates in the organization of qualification tournaments for major events such as the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

or the men's and women's world championships, and of international competitions hosted by one of its affiliated federations. The CEV family increased its membership to 56 Federations following the approval of

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

on the opening day of the 35th FIVB World Congress held on October 5, 2016, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In response to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

, the European Volleyball Confederation banned all Russian national teams, clubs, and officials from participating in European competition, and suspended all members of Russia from their respective functions in CEV organs. It also canceled all competitions in Russia.

Affiliated federations

As of 2022, the following 56 national federations were affiliated to the CEV. The nations are listed alphabetically. Note: Possible member federations in the future:

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1,580 km2, and a populat ...

, Guernsey, the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

, Svalbard, and

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

National team competitions

Indoor volleyball

Men's European Volleyball Championship The Men's European Volleyball Championship (''EuroVolley'') is the official competition for senior men's national volleyball teams of Europe, organized by the European Volleyball Confederation ( CEV). The initial gap between championships was va ...

Women's European Volleyball Championship The Women's European Volleyball Championship is the official competition for senior women's national volleyball teams of Europe, organized by the European Volleyball Confederation ( CEV). The initial gap between championships was variable, but si ...

Men's European Volleyball League The Men's European Volleyball League is a continental volleyball competition senior men's national volleyball teams of Europe, organized by the European Volleyball Confederation ( CEV). Created in 2004, the competition serves as a qualifying tourn ...

Women's European Volleyball League The Women's European Volleyball League is a continental volleyball competition for senior women's national volleyball teams of Europe, organized by the European Volleyball Confederation ( CEV). Created in 2009, the competition served as a qualifyi ...

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from European nations and several transcontinental countries. The Games were envisioned and are governed by the European Olympic Committees ...

* Men's U22 Volleyball European Championship * Women's U22 Volleyball European Championship *

Men's Junior European Volleyball Championship The Men's Junior European Volleyball Championship is a volleyball competition for men's national teams with players under the age of 20 years, currently held biannually and organized by the European Volleyball Confederation, the confederation for ...

Women's Junior European Volleyball Championship The Women's Junior European Volleyball Championship is a sport competition for national teams with players under 20 years, currently held biannually and organized by the European Volleyball Confederation, the volleyball federation from Europe. ...

Boys' Youth European Volleyball Championship The Boys' Youth European Volleyball Championship is a volleyball competition for men's national teams with players under the age of 18 years, currently held biannually and organized by the European Volleyball Confederation, the volleyball federati ...

* Girls' Youth European Volleyball Championship * Boys' U17 European Volleyball Championship * Girls' U16 European Volleyball Championship

Beach volleyball

European Beach Volleyball Championships The European Beach Volleyball Championship (or the Nestea European Championship Final) is a unisex sport competition for national teams in the sport of beach volleyball. The championship is held annually by the CEV (the European volleyball fede ...

* European Beach Volleyball Tour * European U22 Beach Volleyball Championships (U23 until 2013) * European U20 Beach Volleyball Championships * European U18 Beach Volleyball Championships

Snow volleyball

* European Snow Volleyball Championships * European Snow Volleyball Tour

Clubs competitions

Men

CEV Champions League The CEV Champions League is the top official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition is organised every year by the European Volleyball Confederation. Formula (2018–19 to present) Qualification A tot ...

CEV Cup The CEV Cup is the second tier official competition for men's Volleyball clubs of Europe. The competition takes place every year. Until 2000, it was the CEV Cup Winners' Cup. In 2000 it was renamed CEV Top Teams Cup and in 2007 it was renamed CE ...

CEV Challenge Cup The CEV Challenge Cup is the third tier official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. It started in the 1980–81 season under the name CEV Cup. In 2007 it was renamed CEV Challenge Cup. History * CEV Cup (1980� ...

Women

CEV Women's Champions League The Women's CEV Champions League, formerly known as CEV Champions Cup (from 1960 to 2000), is the top official competition for women's volleyball clubs of Europe and takes place every year. It is organized by the Confédération Européenne de V ...

Women's CEV Cup The Women's CEV Cup, formerly known as CEV Cup Winners' Cup (from 1972 to 2000) and CEV Top Teams Cup (from 2000 to 2007), is the second-top official competition for women's volleyball clubs of Europe and takes place every year. It is organized by ...

CEV Women's Challenge Cup The CEV Women's Challenge Cup, formerly (from 1980 to 2007) known as CEV Women's Cup is the third official competition for women's volleyball clubs of Europe and takes place every year. It is organized by the Confédération Européenne de Volley ...

Zonal associations

The CEV has been divided into six zonal associations which are largely geographically based: * Balkan Volleyball Association (BVA) – 11 national federations * Eastern European Volleyball Zonal Association (EEVZA) – 10 national federations * Middle European Volleyball Zonal Association (MEVZA) – 8 national federations * North European Volleyball Zonal Association (NEVZA) – 8 national federations^* * Western European Volleyball Zonal Association (WEVZA) – 8 national federations * Small Countries Association (SCA) – 14 national federations^* Note: ^* The

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

, and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

are members of both the North European Volleyball Zonal Association and the Small Countries Association.

References

External links

* * {{Sports governing bodies in Europe Fédération Internationale de Volleyball confederations Volleyball organizations

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

Volleyball in Europe Sports organizations established in 1963 1963 establishments in Romania