
Lausanne, Switzerland, September 29, 2016 – The 35th FIVB World Congress will open its doors to delegates from the international federation’s 220 national federations from October 5-6 in Buenos Aires, Argentina with workshops for national federations in categories 1 and 2 taking place on October 4.
A record 106,000 fans attended the 2015 Beach Volleyball World Championships in the Netherlands and the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship in Poland also attracted a world record crowd for its opening ceremony - over half a million fans watched the matches of the first and second round. Volleyball and beach volleyball went on to become the signature events of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games where they captured the attention of a global audience and were selected for prime time broadcasting in key markets like the USA and China.
Hosted by the Hilton in Buenos Aires, the FIVB Congress will open with reports on the volleyball and beach volleyball tournaments at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, followed by a review of the FIVB’s activities in Rio, where it aimed to set the standard for fan engagement and showcase the best of the sport’s athletes.
A review of the FIVB’s activities since the 2014 edition of the FIVB World Congress in Sardinia will follow, including the creation of the new Athletes’ Commission which re-affirmed the FIVB’s commitment to ensuring athletes are the focus of its administration.
This year’s edition of the FIVB World Congress is also an electoral one with current FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° standing unopposed.
The FIVB Commissions’ proposals will be presented before the international federation’s principal projects take centre-stage, including the 2017 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Austria, the 2018 Volleyball Women’s World Championship in Japan and the 2018 Volleyball Men’s World Championship in Italy and Bulgaria.
These key events will showcase volleyball as a fun fan-friendly sport in the run-up to the next Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020 in a country which has been a hotspot for the sport since its first appearance at the Olympics at the Games in Tokyo in 1964.
The international federation’s five continental confederations will then also take to the floor to update members on their respective activities.
For all the news in the build-up and during the 2016 edition of the FIVB World Congress, be sure to check the Congress website. News updates will also be available on the FIVB’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.