In what was described as a ground-breaking meeting, the FIVB Board of Administration set out the path for a “new era in world volleyball.”
Said President Dr. Ary S. Graça F: “Our vision for the FIVB in 2024 is clear and ambitious. It will not be possible to reach our vision if we talk for seven years and only act in the last year,” said the President. “The changes we are making will take time to show good results. So, it is important to make them as early as possible.”
A key first step in achieving this vision is for the FIVB to regain full control of its media rights and to concentrate activities around content production and distribution, in conjunction with the confederations and national federations. With the focus primarily on top level events (such as the World Championships and the group one matches of the World League and World Grand Prix), volleyball fans can expect to consume compelling content, across a diverse number of digital platforms, all year round.
The Board of Administration also approved a series of procedural checks and balances, to ensure a higher level of transparency and financial control over the FIVB’s projects and investments. By holding itself to even greater standards of good governance, the FIVB has taken a critical step forward on the road to financial stability and long-term growth and development of the sport.
Recognizing the need for a more fluid approach to decision making, the Board instituted some significant changes to the FIVB’s working structures and practices. Of note is the number of current and former coaches and players who are now part of the governing body’s Commissions.
They include the legendary Karch Kiraly, the only player to have won Olympic gold medals in both volleyball and beach volleyball and China’s volleyball icon, Lang Ping who made history at Rio 2016 for winning gold as player and coach. Joining them on the technical and coaching commission is current coach of Brazil’s women’s team, José Roberto ‘Ze Roberto’ Guimaraes, who has led his country to three Olympic gold medals and Italian Giovanni Guidetti, who has taken the Dutch women’s volleyball team to a silver medal in the 2015 European Championships.
The wealth of experience they bring to the table and the inclusion of ‘voices from the ground’ will go a long way in ensuring that choices made at the international level are relevant and make an impact on the sport. Likewise, volleyball stars like Brazil’s Giba and 2013 Beach Volleyball World Champion Xue Chen – who have already been informing the work of the FIVB since the Athletes’ Commission was set up in August – have played an important role in putting athletes’ voices at the heart of decisions made at the FIVB. – “With four more years to go until the next Olympics, the dynamic, new FIVB Board of Administration meeting has put the organisation on the right track to making volleyball the ‘number one family sport entertainment in the world’,” concludes a FIVB press release.
This story first appeared in the blog, The Sport Intern. The editor is Karl-Heinz Huba of Lorsch, Germany. He can be reached at ISMG@aol.com. The article is reprinted here with permission of Huba.