European Volleyball Confederation

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 lead 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 (Czechoslovakia, 1938); penetration of the setter, which eventually led to the development of the so-called 5-1 system (USSR, 1949); forearm pass (Czechoslovakia, 1958); and backrow attack (Poland, 1974).

The long and significant tradition of the sport in the continent may at least partially account for the administrative structure employed by the CEV, that rivals with 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 (first edition, 1948), 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.

Teams

Europe 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 2007, the following national federations were affiliated to the CEV:

National Teams Competitions

Men

Women