The latest news from the federation’s biennial get together

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Dr. Ary S. Graça will continue his role as FIVB President after being re-elected. Photocredit: FIVB

With the beach volleyball season over, the off-season under way and the Olympics already a distant (but still glorious) memory, the great and the good of volleyball joined forces at the 35th FIVB World Congress last week.

Held in the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires, national federations from around the globe met to hear the FIVB’s blueprint for the future of the game as well as discuss their own ideas to promote and grow all forms of the sport across the planet.

So save you scouring the internet for all the gossip, here’s our bite-sized guide to five important nuggets of news that you might have missed from the Congress:

2017 Beach Volleyball World Championships unveiled – The delegates got a glimpse of what to expect at next year’s World Championships, which will be hosted for the first time in Vienna. If you’ve not heard about the news, see what the delegates watched, below:

Dr. Ary S. Graça re-elected as FIVB President – The 226 delegates representing 201 federations were unanimous in the approval to re-elect of Dr. Graça as the FIVB President.

“Volleyball is undoubtedly in a golden era of success and it is an honor for me to have the prestigious opportunity to build on this great success and take our sport to even greater heights,” he said.

“There is no limit to the evolution of volleyball, no limit to the sport’s success and no limit to how many people around the world we can inspire and I promise to help volleyball fulfil its huge potential.

“Thank you to the global volleyball family for believing in my vision, together we will make volleyball the number one family sport entertainment in the world.”

Welcome South Sudan and Kosovo – The FIVB approved and welcomed with open arms two new members of the volleyball family when these two countries saw their associations ratified. And we look forward to hopefully seeing your players on the beach at the Swatch Majors Series soon!

‘Social media is here to stay’ – That was the message – and music to our ears – on day one of the congress when FIVB Communications Director Richard Baker addressed the audience on the importance of digital and social media. Not following our platforms? You’re missing out! Join us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat (@SwatchMajors)!

Athletes’ Commission meet – In an FIVB first, a newly-formed Athletes’ Commission got their heads together for the first time when sitting down in Buenos Aires. Led by legendary former Brazilian indoor star Giba, the panel also includes beach stars Kerri Walsh Jennings, Swatch Major Series ambassador Julius Brink, Emanuel Rego and Xue Chen.