FIVB Constitution 2021
The 2021 edition of the Constitution of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, adopted by the Congress in Lausanne; it introduced age limits for candidates into the Constitution for the first time and imposed a quorum requirement for amending the Constitution.
| Adoption | 5 February 2021 — FIVB Congress, Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Structure | Constitution, 2021 edition |
| Status | Superseded — replaced by the February 2025 edition |
What is the FIVB Constitution?
The Constitution of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) is the federation's founding instrument: it establishes the scope of its jurisdiction over the confederations, zonal associations and national federations, organises the federation's bodies — the Congress, the Board of Administration, the Executive Committee and the President — together with the powers of each, and lays down the conditions for the candidacy and election of officials. The remaining volleyball regulations, from the general and sports regulations to the disciplinary and financial ones, are enacted on the basis of the powers defined by this instrument.
About the February 2021 editionChanges from November 2018
Key changes from the previous edition
- Age limits for candidacyA candidate for the presidency of the federation must not exceed seventy years of age in the year of the election, and candidates for the Board of Administration, including the presidents of the confederations, must not exceed seventy-two years. In addition, a seventy-two-year age limit applies to all officials elected or appointed at world and continental level.
- The President's power to appoint board membersThe President of the federation was given the power to appoint up to four additional members to the Board of Administration.
- Quorum for amending the ConstitutionThe adoption of amendments is now conditional, in addition to a two-thirds majority, on the Congress at which the vote is taken having at least sixty per cent of the member national federations present. No such requirement existed in the previous edition.
- Shortened deadline for proposing amendmentsThe deadline for an amendment proposal to reach the secretariat was reduced from six months to three months before the Congress.
- Calculation of majoritiesIt was made explicit that abstentions, blank votes and invalid votes are not counted in the calculation of any of the majorities prescribed by the Constitution.
- End of the President's exclusive signing authorityRather than the President being the only person authorised to sign, he or she is now responsible for ensuring that contracts are signed in accordance with the signature policy adopted by the Board of Administration.
Who this document matters to
For the Volleyball Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as a member national federation, its rights and obligations — from representation in the Congress and the right to vote to the obligation to align its domestic regulations with the world regulations — are defined in this instrument. For sports lawyers, the Constitution is the starting point of any case concerning the jurisdiction of the bodies of the world federation; before invoking the disciplinary or ethics regulations, it must be established from which article of the Constitution the adjudicating body derives its authority. Each event is governed by the edition that was in force at the time it occurred.