CEV President attends 54th EOC General Assembly

CEV President Roko Sikirić attended earlier this week the 54th General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) held in Frankfurt, Germany. This was a truly special opportunity to represent European Volleyball at the highest level of international sport and to meet with many high-profile representatives of the Olympic movement, including the seven candidates currently standing for election as IOC President later this month. 

Back in January, the CEV President had paid a visit to the EOC in Rome (click here) and his presence in Frankfurt certainly helped solidify and cement the partnership and cooperation between the two organisations. Mr Sikirić did personally congratulate Mr Spyros Capralos on his re-election as EOC President – and the parties will further engage in the coming weeks and months to work on joint projects such as the European Games, the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF), and the Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) – multi-sport events where Volleyball and Beach Volleyball are likely to play a key and leading role on the programme. 

Next to EOC President Capralos, Vice-President Daina Gudzinevičiūtė (Lithuania) and Treasurer Peter Mennel (Austria), further to the elections held in Frankfurt, the EOC Executive Committee now includes Mihai Covaliu (Romania), Liney Rut Halldórsdóttir (Iceland), Danka Hrbekova Bartekova (Slovakia), Victoria Cabezas (Spain), Annamarie Phelps (Great Britain), Jean Michel Saive (Belgium), Franjo Bobinac (Slovenia), Thomas Weikert (Germany), Emma Terho (Finland), Zlatko Mateša (Croatia), José Manuel Araújo (Portugal), and Anneke van Zanen-Nieberg (Netherlands). Carlo Mornati (Italy) replaces his compatriot Raffaele Pagnozzi as EOC Secretary General. 

The CEV President joined in Frankfurt an impressive number of IOC members and other stakeholders of the Olympic movement, and from the conversations and discussions with colleagues from National Olympic Committees and other international sports organisations it was obvious what sort of  a key role sport can and shall play in today’s fragmented and divided world, especially when it comes to the promotion of values such as respect, excellence, friendship, fair play, unity, and inclusion. The CEV President did also have a short chat with IOC President Thomas Bach, whose tenure at the helm of the Olympic movement is due to end soon, with elections scheduled for later this month in Costa Navarino, Greece. 

Following his participation in the EOC General Assembly, Mr Sikirić is due to travel to Antwerp, Belgium, to follow the men’s and women’s National Cup Finals – an event that over the last few years has become synonymous with record-breaking crowds, innovation, and entertainment of the finest calibre.