European Volleyball Confederation


The Confédération Européenne de Volleyball or CEV is the continental governing body for the sports of volleyball, beach volleyball and snow volleyball in Europe. Its headquarters are located in Luxembourg, Luxembourg.

Profile

Although the CEV was formed on October 21, 1963, in Bucharest, Romania volleyball became popular in Europe many years before. The majority of the teams that attended the Congress which eventually led to the foundation of the FIVB in 1947 were from this continent. In fact, the foundation itself is supposed to have been a move on the part of European national federations.
Volleyball was invented in the United States, but became for the first time an extremely popular sport in eastern Europe, after being introduced by American soldiers during World War I. By the middle of the century, it had already spread through the rest of the continent as well. Many techniques and tactics that are commonplace in modern volleyball have been allegedly introduced by European teams. Amongst others, it would be worthy of note here: blocking ; penetration of the setter, which eventually led to the development of the so-called 5-1 system ; forearm pass ; and backrow attack.
The long and significant tradition of the sport in the continent may at least partially account for the administrative structure employed by the CEV, which rivals the FIVB's in size and comprehensiveness. It is the biggest of all volleyball confederations, and the one that organizes the largest number of annual competitions and tournaments. As of 2005, its headquarters are located in Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
As the presiding entity over European volleyball federations, the CEV organizes continental competitions such as the prestigious European Championship, the CEV Cup and the European League. It participates in the organization of qualification tournaments for major events such as the Olympic Games or the men's and women's World Championships, and of international competitions hosted by one of its affiliated federations.
The CEV family increased its membership to 56 Federations following the approval of Kosovo on the opening day of the 35th FIVB World Congress held on October 5, 2016 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Teams

is considered the strongest continent in the field of volleyball. The CEV has usually more spots reserved in international competitions than any other confederation.
Russia, which inherited most of the players and coaches from former USSR and CIS, has arguably the most stable volleyball programme, supporting top level women's and men's teams. The same may be said of Italy, although only in later years women's volleyball was fully developed in this country.
Serbia, Poland, Italy, Bulgaria and The Netherlands must also be counted as continental forces in men's volleyball. At a lower level of play, one may consider a few other teams with some tradition in this realm, such as France; and at an even lower level, but still capable of occasionally upseting stronger teams, Germany, Spain, Greece and possibly Portugal. In 2015 Slovenia made history ending in second place the 2015 European Championship.
Competition is less tough in the domain of women's volleyball. Russia, Serbia and Italy are rarely threatened by any other team in major competitions. Apart from these three, Germany, which has drawn players both from West and East Germany, may be viewed as the next most traditional European team. With more inconsistent results and often depending on the excellence of individual players, one may also take into consideration: The Netherlands, Romania and more recently Poland and Turkey.

Affiliated Federations

As of 2018, the following 56 national federations were affiliated to the CEV. The countries are listed alphabetically.
CEV CodeCountryFederation
ALBFederata Shqiptare e Volejbollit
ANDFederació Andorrana de Voleibol
ARMVolleyball Federation of Armenia
AUTÖsterreichischer Volleyball Verband
AZEAzərbaycan Voleybol Federasiyası
BLRBelarus Volleyball Federation
BELFédération Royale Belge de Volleyball
BIHOdbojkaški savez Bosne i Hercegovine
BULBulgarska Federatsiya Volejbol
CROHrvatski odbojkaški savez
CYPKypriaki Omospondia Petosfairisis
CZEČeský Volejbalový Svaz
DENDansk Volleyball Forbund
ENGVolleyball England
ESTEesti Võrkpalli Liit
FARFlogbóltssamband Føroya
FINSuomen Lentopalloliitto F. Y.
FRAFédération Française de Volleyball
GEOGeorgian Volleyball Federation
GERDeutscher Volleyball Verband
GIBGibraltar Volleyball Association
GREHellenic Volleyball Federation
GRLKalaallit Nunaanni Volleyballertartut Kattuffiat
HUNMagyar Röplabda Szövetség
ISLBlaksamband Íslands
IRLVolleyball Ireland
ISRIgud HaKadur'af BeIsrael
ITAFederazione Italiana Pallavolo
KOSFederata e Volejbollit e Kosovës
LATLatvijas volejbola federācija
LIELiechtensteiner Volleyball Verband
LTULietuvos tinklinio federacija
LUXFédération Luxembourgeoise de Volleyball
MKDOdbojkarska Federacija na Makedonija
MLTMalta Volleyball Association
MLDFederaţia Moldovenească de Volei
MONFédération Monégasque de Volleyball
MNEOdbojkaški savez Crne Gore
NEDNederlandse Volleybalbond
NIRNorthern Ireland Volleyball Association
NORNorges Volleyballforbund
POLPolski Związek Piłki Siatkowej
PORFederação Portuguesa de Voleibol
ROUFederaţia Română de Volei
RUSVolleyball Federation of Russia
SMRFederazione Sammarinese Pallavolo
SCOScottish Volleyball Association
SRBOdbojkaški savez Srbije
SVKSlovenská Volejbalová Federácia
SLOOdbojkarska Zveza Slovenije
ESPReal Federación Española de Voleibol
SWESvenska Volleybollförbundet
SUISwiss Volley
TURTürkiye Voleybol Federasyonu
UKRUkrainian Volleyball Federation
WALPêl-foli Cymru

National Teams Competitions

Volleyball

Men

CEV has 5 Zonal Associations and the Small Countries Association.