CEV General Assembly celebrates dawn of new era for European Volleyball

The XLVI CEV General Assembly held in Paris represented an opportunity for the members of the European Volleyball family to come together to review the many achievements of the past 12 months – and for CEV President Roko Sikirić and the current leadership to share their strategic vision for the further growth of the sport through innovation, digitisation, commercialisation, and solidarity. 

Some 14 months after assuming the leadership of the European Volleyball community, the CEV President did renew his call for unity and cohesion, while reviewing a number of challenges he has managed to overcome along the way. What is most important, he said, is that through an unprecedented number of partnerships signed over an incredibly short period of time, he and his colleagues from the CEV Board of Administration have secured the financial stability of the organisation. Moreover, a series of innovative programmes have been designed to support National Federations in their efforts to grow the game. 

The CEV President emphasised how his commercial-driven approach has already yielded important, tangible results. There understandably still remains room for improvement – and yet a due diligence analysis has already resulted in the production of a long-term commercial plan (2025-2028) whose implementation has already begun. 

The session in Paris was joined by FIVB President Fabio Azevedo, who praised the work of the CEV leadership and their contribution to the achievement of the many strategic goals set out in the FIVB long-term plan for 2032, with the ultimate ambition to double the members of the Global Volleyball Movement from 800 million to 1.6 billion. 

Among other things, the revolution initiated by the current CEV leadership is taking shape via the introduction of the CEV Solidarity Fund specifically designed to support National Federations and their development programmes in a fair, objective, measurable and transparent manner, the unveiling of an ambitious, large-scale digital programme aimed at seizing the many opportunities disclosed by the latest advancements in technology and AI and the introduction of a Good Governance Code to ensure the highest levels of transparency and accountability.  

André Meyer appointed CEV Honorary Life President 

The session in the French capital was attended by representatives of as many as 55 National Federations – and the delegates deserved a standing ovation to former CEV President André Meyer, thereby approving his appointment as CEV Honorary Life President as proposed by the CEV Board of Administration upon the personal initiative of Mr Sikirić. André Meyer (LUX) did lead the European Volleyball family for as many as 14 years from 2001 to 2015 – leaving a lasting legacy especially when it comes to securing a permanent seat for European Volleyball in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the sound financial management of the confederation. 

The delegates did also vote on changes to the CEV Statutes and Regulations to ensure full compliance with the latest Luxembourgish law on non-profit organisations. Further to these changes, the members of the European Volleyball family will reconvene online in mid-June to review the accounts for 2025 – for which a record budget was confirmed in Paris for a non-EuroVolley year – and subsequently on September 24 on the eve of the CEV EuroVolley 2026 Men final weekend in Milan for the ‘traditional’ plenary, in-person session. 

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