FIVB President's Season's Greetings

The launch of the Beach Volleyball Continental Cup - a new addition to the 2012 Olympic Games qualifying process - was one of the success stories of 2010

Lausanne, Switzerland, December 31, 2010 - As we enter another very busy and truly monumental year for volleyball and beach volleyball, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my warmest wishes and season’s greetings to the volleyball family.

I would also like to thank all the FIVB members for their outstanding participation over the past 12 months. Whether it be as a team member attending a tournament, an official ensuring a competition runs smoothly or a coach helping with a training course, I thank you for your time and dedication in taking part in the exceptional growth in the world of volleyball and beach volleyball.

This past year has been another busy one highlighted by the FIVB Congress and the FIVB’s premier volleyball event - the World Championships – which successfully took place in Italy and Japan. But above all, the FIVB has made significant ground in development and marketing. These are two areas which the FIVB hasn’t focused on particularly strongly in the past but having revised that strategy in 2008, we are now starting to see the fruit of the increased work and investment.

The FIVB development programme and development fund have been extremely successful with federations grasping the opportunity to grow volleyball in their region, the Continental Cup has been a breakthrough event with record numbers of athletes and countries participating in the beach volleyball Olympic qualification process, while increased numbers of television deals are a sure sign of the success of our work.

New resources, competitions and initiatives have set the platform for continued sustainable growth. Now we must continue to focus on the long term to ensure the world of volleyball continues to go from strength to strength.

Mr. Jizhong Wei, FIVB President