Honorees

The Federation Internationale de Volleyball

1993 Court of Honor Selection

The Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) has been a major factor in the tremendous international popularity of the sport of volleyball.

In 1946, at an international match between Czechoslovakia and France, the Constitutive Congress agreed to meet the following year in Paris, at which time an international federation of volleyball would be born. The French Volleyball Federation organized the meetings and helped with the creation of the National Federations in Belgium, The Netherlands. Luxembourg, and Switzerland.

The 13 nations attending the Congress worked out the Statutes and International Regulations of the FIVB and made the American and European rules concordant. The FIVB continued to work on a worldwide set of rules and, in 1955, during the Florence Congress, the Japanese Federation decided to introduce the international rules in its country and in Asia.

Under the direction of the FIVB, the first European Championships took place in Rome in 1948, followed by the first World Championships, held in Praha in 1949.

With its own world championships in place, the FIVB directed its attention to the Olympic Games. Thanks to the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation, a tournament was held in Sofia in 1957 during the International Olympic Committee meetings. As a result, volleyball was included as an Olympic Sport at the 1964 Olympics in Toyko.

Since its beginnings in 1947, with 13 member countries, the FIVB has grown into an international organization of more than 200 nations.