FIVB — Fédération Internationale de Volleyball

What is the FIVB?

The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball — in its constitution “the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB)” — is the international federation for volleyball. It describes itself as “The sole, global volleyball regulatory body responsible for all forms of volleyball and its development”, and names three disciplines: indoor volleyball, beach volleyball and snow volleyball.^[2]

Its constitution, in its 2025 edition approved by the Congress in Porto on 15 November 2024 and in force since 16 February 2025, states that “The term ‘Volleyball’ is meant to include all forms of the sport (notably Beach Volleyball and Park Volley), played in all parts of the world at all levels of competition by male and female players, whether played indoor or outdoor, on a hard, soft or sandy surface” (article 1.1).^[5][1] Article 1.2.2 states that “Since 1984, the FIVB has been officially recognized in the Canton de Vaud, Switzerland as a legal international institution serving the public interest under the Swiss legal form of an association.” The official languages are English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese and Russian (article 1.6.1).^[1]

Olympedia, an independent Olympic-history database, lists five presidents since 1947: Paul Libaud of France (1947–1984), Rubén Acosta of Mexico (1984–2008), Wei Jizhong of China (2008–2012), Ary Graça of Brazil (2012–2024) and Fabio Azevedo of Brazil (from 2024).^[3] The FIVB names Volleyball World among its related entities.^[2]

What does the FIVB govern?

Mandate. Article 1.4 of the constitution charges the FIVB to “promote, coordinate, publicize, regulate, organize, supervise, control, manage and govern the sport of Volleyball throughout the world.”^[1] It publishes the Official Volleyball Rules and, for beach volleyball, the Official Rules of the Games.^[10]

Regulations. Beneath the constitution sit regulations adopted by the Board of Administration, among them General Regulations (in force 11 April 2025), Sports Regulations (2026 edition, in force 8 May 2026), Event Regulations (2026 edition, in force 28 February 2026), Disciplinary Regulations and Homologation Regulations.^[5] The Sports Regulations govern player eligibility, agents and the International Transfer Certificate required for a player to move between countries (article 6).^[6] See transfer systems.

Disputes. Article 2.7.5 provides that any dispute arising from the constitution, the regulations and FIVB decisions “shall be submitted exclusively to the CAS and be definitively settled”.^[1] See Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Anti-doping. The FIVB’s anti-doping page refers to its Medical and Anti-Doping Regulations (in force 23 June 2023) and the World Anti-Doping Code, and states that “the FIVB has delegated responsibility for all TUE applications to the International Testing Agency (ITA).”^[11] See anti-doping.

When was the FIVB founded and where is it based?

Article 1.2.1 of the constitution states that the FIVB was “founded on 20 April 1947 in Paris, France”, and names the founding members as “Belgium, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, France, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, United States of America, Uruguay and Yugoslavia.”^[1] Olympedia independently gives the founding as April 1947, confirming the year and month; the day rests on the FIVB’s own constitution.^[3]

No change of the federation’s name appears in the constitution or in Olympedia’s record, which files it as the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball throughout; the English form “International Volleyball Federation” is the one the constitution itself uses.^[1][3]

Seat. Article 1.3 states: “The headquarters of the FIVB are in Lausanne, Switzerland.”^[1] The FIVB gives its address as Château Les Tourelles, Edouard-Sandoz 2-4, 1006 Lausanne, and Olympedia also places the headquarters in Lausanne.^[2][3] The founding city, Paris, and the statutory seat, Lausanne, are separate facts, and founding (1947) and Olympic admission (1964) are separate dates.

How is the FIVB recognised?

IOC. The FIVB states that it “is part of the Olympic Movement, contributing to the success of the Olympic Games”.^[2] The constitution contains no clause dating an IOC recognition, and Olympedia’s federation page carries none; the year of recognition could therefore not be established from a retrieved source.^[1][3] The sport’s Olympic history is dated separately: Olympedia records that “The début at the Olympic Games for both men and women would happen at Tokyo 1964”, and that beach volleyball entered the Olympics for both genders at Atlanta 1996.^[3]

ASOIF. The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations lists the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball among its 30 full members.^[8]

WADA. The World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of Code signatories carries the “International Volleyball Federation (FIVB)” under the heading for ASOIF members.^[9]

What does the FIVB organise?

The Event Regulations (2026) list the FIVB’s competitions: the World Championships and their qualifying tournaments, Olympic qualifying tournaments, the under-21, under-19 and under-17 World Championships, the Volleyball Nations League and the men’s and women’s Club World Championships. Their timetable sets the World Championships at two-year intervals (“e.g. 2025, 2027”) in August to October, the Nations League as annual in May–July, and the Club World Championships as annual in December.^[7]

World Championships. Olympedia records that the first men’s World Championship was staged in 1949 in Prague and the first women’s in 1952 in Moscow.^[3] The most recent men’s edition was held in the Philippines in 2025: Italy beat Bulgaria 3–1 in the final in Pasay City, Volleyball World reported on 28 September 2025.^[12] The most recent women’s edition was held in Thailand from 22 August to 7 September 2025.^[13] On 26 September 2025 Volleyball World reported FIVB Board of Administration decisions awarding the men’s 2027 championship to Poland, the women’s 2027 championship jointly to the USA and Canada, and the men’s 2029 championship to Qatar, each with 32 teams.^[14]

Beach and snow. Olympedia records the first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships at Los Angeles in 1997.^[3] The FIVB also lists the Beach Pro Tour among its events and snow volleyball among its disciplines.^[10][2]

Who are its members?

Article 2.1.1 of the constitution provides that “The FIVB members are the founding NFs and all other subsequently affiliated NFs”, and article 2.2.6 that “All NFs affiliated to the FIVB shall have the same rights and duties.”^[1]

Article 2.10.1.2 names five continental confederations: the “African Confederation (CAVB), Asian Confederation (AVC), European Confederation (CEV), North, Central American and Caribbean Confederation (NORCECA), South American Confederation (CSV).”^[1] The European body is CEV, the North, Central American and Caribbean body NORCECA and the South American body CSV.

Count. The FIVB’s list of confederations gives 65 national federations for the AVC, 54 for the CAVB, 56 for the CEV, 35 for NORCECA and 12 for the CSV, and prints the total as 222; the AVC, CAVB, CEV and NORCECA are further divided into zonal associations, the CSV into none.^[4] Olympedia gives a lower figure: “218 affiliated national federations as of January 2026”.^[3] The two sources are dated differently and are reported side by side. National members include USA Volleyball and Brazil’s CBV.