Annual EVC meeting acknowledges major milestones

The European Volleyball Commission (EVC) had their annual plenary meeting last week at the home of European Volleyball in Luxembourg, with CEV President Roko Sikirić joining the first session to personally acknowledge the work accomplished this far since the Commission was established for the first time in the second half of 2024.

A real milestone is represented by the introduction of the revamped CEV Volleyball European League, which – as of 2026 – will count as a qualification pathway for the 2028 edition of the continental championship for men’s and women’s national teams, the CEV EuroVolley. A record-breaking number of National Federations (29) have registered for participation, thereby raising the value and profile of the competition to unprecedented heights.  

The CEV President congratulated the EVC members on the successful completion of this ambitious task, which has also helped streamline the international calendar and provided additional certainty for member Federations in planning and delivering their respective national team programmes in the mid and long term. 

The EVC members did also review and finalise the CEV European Cups calendar for the 2026/2027 season, which will be forwarded to the CEV Board of Administration for approval at their next meeting scheduled for early March. Moreover, the discussions revolved around the future of age-group competitions, especially in order to optimise their schedule and competition format in the qualifying as well as in the Final Rounds starting from 2027 onwards. 

Overall, it was a highly productive meeting, with the interests of National Federations at the core of all discussions as the CEV continues to devise measures likely to grow the game in a sustainable way while providing opportunities to all members and stakeholders to get involved in such a virtuous process.