Age Group revision wraps up Sports Events Council

Lausanne, Switzerland, February 2, 2016 – The FIVB Sports Events Council wrapped up its two day meeting on Tuesday with a revision of the Age Group World Championships as a key proposal which will go forward to the Board of Administration for approval in April.

Following working group sessions during the two day meeting, the Sports Events Council prepared the following proposals to the Board:

– The Under 23 World Championships to be held every four years
– Players not allowed to play in more than two age categories (including senior) in the same year 
– And a revision of the continental quota as per below:

The working groups dedicated to the FIVB International Sports Events Calendar and the FIVB World Ranking / Guidelines & Attribution of Points will continue to work on these subjects in an effort to formulate some clear proposals ahead of the Board of Administration meeting, which will take place in Lausanne from April 6-7.

FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° closed the meeting thanking the members for their work and stressed that change must continue to occur. “We must move with the times for the good of volleyball. We have a wonderful product but we can’t rest on our laurels. We have already implemented many new ideas but we must continue to work hard and innovate across all levels of our sport and across all national federations.

“Over the past few years it was about quantity, now it’s about quality. We need more good teams in all continents so I encourage you all to continue to look at ways the FIVB and volleyball can continue to evolve.”

Sports Events Council President Aleksandar Boricic reiterated the President’s comments and particularly highlighted that more work will go into focusing the change around match duration. “It is our mission to implement changes so that matches do not last longer than two hours. The global audience is demanding this so we must continue to find ways where we can modify our match structure. There has been plenty of good discussion and ideas over the past two days but we will continue to work to ensure that ideas and changes are implemented more quickly.”