The International Volleyball Federation commonly known by the

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

FIVB (''Fédération Internationale de Volleyball''). Is the international

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 all forms of

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 Summ ...

. Its headquarters are located in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, Switzerland, and its current president is Fabio Azevedo of Brazil.

History

Before the FIVB was founded volleyball was part of the International Amateur Handball Federation. The FIVB was founded in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in April 1947. In the late 1940s, some of the European national federations began to address the issue of creating an international governing body for the sport of volleyball. Initial discussions eventually lead to the installation of a Constitutive Congress in 1947. Fourteen national federations representing five different continents attended the meetings where, between 18 and 20 April, the entity was officially formed, having Frenchman Paul Libaud as first president. The first Asian volleyball championship was held in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

in 1955 and in this championship India had beaten Japan in final. One of the main goals of the 1947 Congress was achieved two years later with the establishment of the first international major volleyball event, the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

. In 1952, a women's version of the tournament was also introduced. In 1964, the IOC endorsed the addition of volleyball to the Olympic programme. By this time, the number of national federations affiliated to the FIVB had grown to 89. Later in that year (1969), a new international event, the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

was introduced. It would be turned into a qualifying event for the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

in 1991. Following Libaud's retirement and the election of Mexican Rubén Acosta Hernandez for the position of president in 1984, the FIVB moved its headquarters from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and intensified to an unprecedented level its policy of promoting volleyball on a worldwide basis. Measures taken in this direction include the establishment of annual competitions for men's and women's volleyball (the World League, in 1990, and the Grand Prix, in 1993), the indication of

Beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

as an Olympic event (1996) and a number of changes in the rules of the game with the purpose of enhancing public visibility. On 19 June 2008, Wei Jizhong () of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, who during this period served as the 1st Vice president took over during the 31st World Congress in Dubai when Rubén Acosta decided to step down. Mr. Jizhong Wei became the third president in the history of the FIVB. The handover of the presidency took place on 24 August 2008 in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. , the FIVB counted 222 affiliated national federations. In response to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, the International Volleyball Federation suspended all Russian national teams, clubs, and officials, as well as beach and snow volleyball athletes, from all events, and stripped Russia of the right to host the

2022 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship The 2022 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship was the 20th staging of the FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship, contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ...

in August 2022, and will relocate games that were to be in Russia in June and July.

Tournaments

National teams: ;Men * Olympic Volleyball: since 1964, quadrennially * Men's World Championship: since 1949, biennially * Men's World Cup: since 1965, quadrennially * Men's Nations League: since 2018, annually * Men's Challenger Cup: since 2018, annually * Men's U21 World Championship (Junior): since 1977, biennially * Boys' U19 World Championship (Youth): since 1989, biennially * Youth Olympic Games: 2010 ;Women * Olympic Women's Volleyball: since 1964, quadrennially * Women's World Championship: since 1952, biennially * Women's World Cup: since 1973, quadrennially * Women's Nations League: since 2018, annually * Women's Challenger Cup: since 2018, annually * Women's U20 World Championship (Junior): since 1977, biennially * Girls' U18 World Championship (Youth): since 1989, biennially * Youth Olympic Games: 2010 Clubs: ;Men * Men's Club World Championship: since 1989, annually ;Women * Women's Club World Championship: since 1991, annually Defunct * World League (Men): 1990–2017, annually * World Grand Prix (Women): 1993–2017, annually * World Grand Champions Cup: 1993-2017, quadrennially beach volleyball tournaments: *

: since 1996, quadrennially *

: since 1997, biennially * World Tour: since 1989, annually and the following international under-age beach volleyball tournaments: * Youth Olympic Games: since 2014, quadrennially * U23 World Championships: since 2013, annually * U21 World Championships: since 2001, annually * U19 World Championships: since 2003, annually * U17 World Championships: since 2014, annually The FIVB's main activity is worldwide planning and organisation of volleyball events, sometimes in conjunction with other international governing bodies such as the IOC. This involves defining qualification procedures and competition formulae for tournaments, as well as more specific details such as player line-up and replacement restrictions, venues and hosts. The FIVB participates directly in the organization of continental volleyball events which have an attached international significance, such as Olympic and World Championship continental qualification tournaments. The FIVB also maintains extensive special programmes aimed at the advance of world volleyball. This includes the constitution of development centers in areas where the sport is still unpopular, as well as support (in instruction and equipment) for organizations that fail to meet the quality standards required on an international level. Therefore, FIVB organizes congress, workshops, courses for referees, coaches and teachers, to promote grassroot volleyball development, such as: * Volley All Festival * Good Net Project in 2019 * School Volleyball Congress in 2007 * Volleyball Medicine Congress in 2011 * Symposium on Match Analysis in 1981 * Symposium on Mini Volleyball in 1985 Another relevant area of concern is the promotion of volleyball in a worldwide scale. Part of the FIVB's activities in this area consists in attracting media partners and sponsors through negotiation of commercial rights for broadcasting and coverage of major events. As reported by Olympic news outle
Around the Rings
the FIVB recently launched a new "FIVB Heroes" promotion in Rome. The campaign uses billboards, posters and statues of the top beach volleyball players situated around the city to enhance visibility and profiles of the athletes. The FIVB is responsible for the standardization of volleyball rules. In recent years, many changes were implemented in connection with its promotional and marketing vision, in an alleged attempt to improve public visibility and make the sport comply to the demands of sponsors and media organizations. These changes range from ingenuous, almost commonplace restrictions, such as the obligation of a "fashionable" uniform – meaning tight clothing, supposed to be more appealing to the audience because it makes players bodies salient –, to very drastic changes in the format of competitions (e.g., the rally-point system). The FIVB is the ultimate international authority in volleyball, and judges (or is involved at least to some degree in the judgement) issues such as doping, regulation of player transfer, nationality changes and gender determination. It also publishes the FIVB World Rankings, used as basis for seeding in international competitions.

Current champions

Nations

Clubs

Beach volleyball

Intercontinental events

Under-age events

Rankings

Men's

The following table has the Top 20 ranked men's volleyball countries in the world.

Women's

The following table has the Top 20 ranked women's volleyball countries in the world.

Other events

The FIVB is also responsible for the volleyball games at some regional competitions as: *

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from countries served by national Olympic committees within the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the regional association for such committ ...

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

* Lusophony Games * All-Africa Games

Organization

World Congress: The supreme authority convened every two years, electing the President and members of the Board. Board of Administration: Responsible for the overall management of the FIVB, overseeing the work of the national federations, confederations, commissions and councils and appoints officials including members of the executive committee. Executive Committee: Composed of board members and each member is charged with important and specific responsibilities, assisted by Commissions, Committees and Councils. * Legal Commission * Finance Commission * Communication Commission * Rules of the Games and Refereeing Commission * Technical and Coaching Commission * Medical Commission * Development Commission * Beach Volleyball Commission * Athletes Commission * Sports Events Council * Beach Volleyball World Tour Council * World League Council * World Grand Prix Council * World Championships Council Judicial Bodies * FIVB Disciplinary Panel * FIVB Appeals Panel * FIVB Ethics Panel * FIVB Tribunal The FIVB also presides over five continental confederations: * Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

* Confederación Sudamericana de Voleibol (CSV) in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

* African Volleyball Confederation (CAVB) in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

European Volleyball Confederation The European Volleyball Confederation ( or ''CEV'') is the continental sports governing body, governing body for the sports of volleyball, indoor volleyball, beach volleyball and snow volleyball in Europe. Its headquarters is in Luxembourg City, ...

(CEV) in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation The North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sports of volleyball in Northern America, Central America, and the Caribbean. NORCECA is the continent ...

(NORCECA) in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Each continental confederation, by its turn, presides over a number of national federations located in its domain of action.

FIVB Heroes

"FIVB Heroes" is the official image campaign of the FIVB. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the players’ athletic achievements and to increase the worldwide interest in the sport. “FIVB Heroes” features 33 volleyball and 29 beach volleyball players from 19 countries, who were selected due to their outstanding performance.

FIVB presidents

* Paul Libaud (1947–1984) * Rubén Acosta Hernández (1984–2008) * Wei Jizhong (2008–2012) * Ary Graça (2012–2024) * Fabio Azevedo (2024–)

Notes

References

External links

*
Official CEV – Confederation Europeenne de Volleyball website

Official FIVB Heroes website

Corruption scandal involving FIVB president Ary GraçaOfficial Volleyball Rules 2021-2024

FIVB Sports Regulations - Volleyball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Federation Internationale De Volleyball Organisations based in Lausanne International sports organisations based in Switzerland Sports organizations established in 1947 1947 establishments in France *