Key decisions taken at BVA General Assembly to boost further growth of the sport

The 26th General Assembly of the Balkan Volleyball Association (BVA) was held on Saturday in Tirana, with the Albanian Volleyball Federation (FSHV) and their President Erlind Pëllumbi welcoming colleagues and friends from across the Balkan region as well as many high-ranking officials, starting with CEV President Roko Sikirić, CEV First Vice-President Ivan Knežević, and CEV Managing Director Vuk Karanovic. The meeting was attended by delegates from 10 of the 11 BVA member Federations as well as by Mr Frane Žanić, President of the Croatian Volleyball Federation and MEVZA Sports Director, and Mrs Valentina Bifflin, President of the Middle European Volleyball Zonal Association (MEVZA).  

CEV President Roko Sikirić praised the members of the Balkan Volleyball family for their continued hard work to grow Volleyball at all levels and especially for their readiness to deliver major CEV competitions. Albania and Kosovo are due to host the Final Round of this year’s #EuroVolleyU16W whereas BVA members will be playing a leading role in next year’s CEV EuroVolley, as men’s matches will be taking place in Romania and Bulgaria and the new women’s European champions will be crowned in Türkiye. 

The BVA General Assembly represented an opportunity to discuss the calendar of Volleyball and Beach Volleyball competitions scheduled for the summer of 2025 – with age limits set at U16, U19 and U21 for men’s and women’s zonal Volleyball championships. The delegates agreed upon the financial and competition-related matters relevant to these competitions as well. Moreover, the BVA General Assembly approved a proposal to allow the Malta Volleyball Association to participate with their national teams in future BVA competitions. It is expected that all participants and organisers will be defined by the end of February 2025.

The members of the BVA Assembly unanimously decided to move the BVA Secretariat from Istanbul, Türkiye, to Belgrade, Serbia. Moreover, as per the rotational system in place and according to the BVA statutes, Mr Milutin Popović from Bosnia and Herzegovina will be serving as BVA President for one year, supported during his tenure by Mr Georgios Karampetsos from Greece as BVA Vice-President. Consequently, the 27th BVA General Assembly will be held in January 2026 in Bosnia and Herzegovina.