This past weekend, CEV President Roko Sikirić joined FIVB President Fabio Azevedo in addressing around 110 members of the French Volleyball community gathered for the FFVolley General Assembly in Juan-les-Pins. The attendance of the top leaders in global and European Volleyball highlighted the French Federation`s importance to the sport worldwide and conveyed a strong message of unity and cooperation in efforts to promote and grow volleyball.
The CEV President expressed his deep admiration and respect for the accomplishments of French Volleyball. He specifically highlighted their remarkable and unprecedented achievement of successfully defending the men`s Olympic title on home soil in Paris last year. This feat was particularly impressive considering the immense pressure and high expectations following their initial success in Tokyo three years prior. He also noted the exceptionally bright future for French volleyball, citing their clean sweep of all men`s European age-group titles (U18, U20, and U22) last year, alongside the significant and rapid growth of women`s volleyball, evidenced by their sixth-place finish at EuroVolley 2023 and their debut in the Volleyball Nations League in 2024.
Mr. Sikirić assured the audience that the CEV remains committed to supporting the French Volleyball family in all their current and future initiatives. He was particularly impressed by the statistics shared by FFVolley President Eric Tanguy, which showed a record-breaking budget and a significantly high number of registered players. The current figure stands at approximately 230,000 licensed players, an all-time high, matched by a record number of affiliated clubs (1,413).
FIVB President Fabio Azevedo engaged in a lively discussion with the attendees, outlining his vision for the further global development of volleyball. The audience included representatives from French overseas territories spanning Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, giving the meeting a truly international scope and perspective.
CEV and FFVolley are set to continue their close collaboration to foster the sport`s growth. A significant joint project is on the horizon, as Paris is scheduled to host this year`s CEV General Assembly in early November, promising a highly anticipated gathering of key European stakeholders in the French capital.
#EuropeanVolleyball
Jasper Thornfield 
Finley Blackwood