CEV President shows solidarity, highlights sport as tool to build bridges and promote peace in visit to Ukraine

This past weekend CEV President Roko Sikirić paid a visit to Ukraine at a time when the Eastern European country is still experiencing enormous challenges. This journey was designed to convey the solidarity of the European Volleyball family to their Ukrainian friends and colleagues as well as to reflect the President’s vision to involve all member Federations in a spirit of full transparency, equality, and mutual support – as embedded in the motto #All4Volleyball. 

Accompanied by CEV Board of Administration member Arturs Vitkovskis, the CEV President undertook a journey from Poland to the city of Horodok in western Ukraine – a place that has slowly but surely cemented its status as a Volleyball hub through the success of their men’s team, Epicentr-Podolyany, and that did host the Ukrainian men’s Supercup 2025 on Sunday. 

The CEV President praised the members of the Ukrainian Volleyball family for their unprecedented recent results in major Volleyball and Beach Volleyball competitions – which are even more remarkable given the current circumstances. Ukrainian players and teams have shown incredible resilience and the ability to represent their country at the highest level with much pride and determination – thereby securing achievements that know no equal in history, such as EuroBeachVolley gold, European Golden League titles and impressive performances in both the Volleyball Nations League and World Championships. 

Taking lessons from his own experiences during his youth in the former Yugoslavia, the CEV President reflected on his personal background and acknowledged the dedication of his Ukrainian colleagues, including UVF President Mykhailo Melnyk. As one of a very few sports leaders to visit Ukraine in recent times, his words were both emotional and sincere:

“I came here to show my support and express my solidarity with the Ukrainian Volleyball community. At the same time, I wanted to recognise the remarkable results achieved by Ukrainian athletes under such challenging circumstances. We should remind ourselves that sport has the power to build bridges and we should continue to utilise its unique ability to promote peace, fair play, and friendship among people from diverse countries and across our – unfortunately – highly polarised society,” he said. “I will continue to stay true to my manifesto and try to unite all our 56 members under the CEV umbrella, making sure they all feel listened to, understood, and supported.”