European Volleyball Confederation

Profile

Although the CEV was formed on 21 October 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. The foundation is supposed to have been a move on the part of European national federations.

Volleyball was invented in the United States and became an extremely popular sport in eastern Europe when introduced by American soldiers during World War I. By the middle of the century, it had spread through the rest of the continent. Many techniques and tactics commonplace in modern volleyball were introduced by European teams.

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 organizes the most annual competitions and tournaments. As of 2005, its headquarters are located in 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, men's and women's world championships and international competitions 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 5 October 2016, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Volleyball Confederation banned all Russian national teams, clubs and officials from participating in European competition, and suspended all Russians from their respective functions in CEV organs. It also canceled all competitions in Russia.

Affiliated federations

As of 2022, the following 56 national federations are CEV affiliates, listed alphabetically.

FIVB world rankings

(as of INSERT_UPDATE_DATE) (as of INSERT_UPDATE_DATE)

Competitions

Volleyball

National teams: ;Men

• EuroVolley
• Men's European Volleyball League
• CEV U22 Volleyball European Championship
• CEV U20 Volleyball European Championship
• CEV U18 Volleyball European Championship
• CEV U16 Volleyball European Championship ;Women
• EuroVolley
• Women's European Volleyball League
• CEV Women's U22 Volleyball European Championship
• CEV Women's U20 Volleyball European Championship
• CEV Women's U18 Volleyball European Championship
• CEV Women's U16 Volleyball European Championship Clubs: ;Men
• CEV Champions League
• CEV Cup
• CEV Challenge Cup ;Women
• CEV Women's Champions League
• Women's CEV Cup
• CEV Women's Challenge Cup

Beach volleyball

Championship:

• European Beach Volleyball Championships
• European U22 Beach Volleyball Championships (U23 until 2013)
• European U20 Beach Volleyball Championships
• European U18 Beach Volleyball Championships Tour
• European Beach Volleyball Tour

Snow volleyball

• European Snow Volleyball Championships
• European Snow Volleyball Tour

Title holders

Volleyball

Zonal associations

Zones

The CEV is divided into six zonal associations largely based on geography:

1. Balkan Volleyball Association (BVA) (1998) – 11 national federations, BVA Cup
2. Eastern European Volleyball Zonal Association (EEVZA) (2005) – 10 national federations
3. Middle European Volleyball Zonal Association (MEVZA) (2002) – 8+1 national federations, MEVZA League
4. North European Volleyball Zonal Association (NEVZA) (2002) – 8 national federations
5. Western European Volleyball Zonal Association (WEVZA) (2013) – 8 national federations
6. Small Countries Association (SCA) (1986) – 13+2 national federations, SCA Championship

• The Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland are members of the NEVZA and SCA. Cyprus members of the MEVZA and SCA.

Members

1. ALB,BIH,BUL,GRE,KOS,MDA,MKD,MNE,ROU,SRB,TUR
2. ARM,AZE,BLR,EST,GEO,LAT,LTU,POL,RUS,UKR
3. AUT,CRO,CYP,CZE,HUN,ISR,LUX,SVK,SLO
4. DEN,ENG,FRO,FIN,GRL,ISL,NOR,SWE
5. BEL,FRA,GER,ITA,NED,POR,ESP,SUI
6. MLT,SMR,GIB,AND,MON,LIE,LUX,WAL,IRL,NIR,SCO+ISL,GRL,FRO,CYP

Sponsors

References

References

1. "About the CEV". European Volleyball Confederation.
2. "European Volleyball Federation bans Russian, Belarusian teams, officials from European competition".
3. Feinswog, Lee. (February 28, 2022). "USA Volleyball will not play in Russia, Anae leaves Ukraine, Christenson OK in Kazan, Liskevych memories".
4. "Competition History". European Volleyball Confederation.
5. "CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship 2019". European Volleyball Confederation.
6. "CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship 2019". European Volleyball Confederation.
7. "History & Future: The Development of the Game". snowvolleyball.at.
8. "CEV - Zonal Associations".
9. "Balkan Volleyball Association (BVA) {{!}} InsideCEV".
10. "Eastern European Volleyball Zonal Association (EEVZA) {{!}} InsideCEV".
11. https://inside.cev.eu/institutions/zonal-associations/middle-european-volleyball-zonal-association-mevza/
12. https://inside.cev.eu/institutions/zonal-associations/north-european-volleyball-zonal-association-nevza/
13. https://inside.cev.eu/institutions/zonal-associations/western-european-volleyball-zonal-association-wevza/
14. https://inside.cev.eu/institutions/zonal-associations/small-countries-association-sca/