The FIVB Congress held a minutes silence for those members who had passed away in the past two years
A list of the FIVB Constitution Modifications proposals included a clarification of the constitution that gender-in-minority members of the Board are eligible to become President, which was approved with a 90% majority.
A proposal to confirm that Board of Administration members may only be removed from office by decision of the Board of Administration or of the Congress, for just cause; or automatically, when their respective Confederation’s General Assembly withdraws its endorsement (not applicable to the President and the two members of the gender in minority, who have been elected by the FIVB Congress) was also approved by 74.7% majority.
The FIVB Congress also approved the recognition of four FIVB judicial bodies consisting of a disciplinary panel, an appeals panel, an ethics panel and the FIVB Tribunal as per the following:
• The Disciplinary Panel shall be empowered to decide on disciplinary matters as provided for in the FIVB Constitution and Regulations. It shall be composed of one (1) Chairperson, one (1) Vice-Chairperson and three (3) members appointed by the Board of Administration. All Confederations shall be represented on the Disciplinary Panel.
• The Appeals Panel shall be empowered to decide on appeals as provided for in the FIVB Constitution and Regulations. It shall be composed of one (1) Chairperson, one (1) Vice-Chairperson and three (3) members appointed by the Board of Administration. All Confederations shall be represented on the Appeals Panel.
• The Ethics Panel shall be empowered to review issues of ethical nature and submit proposals to the Board of Administration or the Congress, as provided for in the FIVB Constitution and Regulations. It shall be composed of one (1) Chairperson, one (1) Vice-Chairperson and three (3) members appointed by the Congress. All Confederations shall be represented on the Ethics Panel.
• The FIVB Tribunal shall be empowered to decide on financial disputes between players, coaches and clubs as provided for in the FIVB Regulations. It shall be composed of one (1) Chairperson, one (1) Vice-Chairperson and three (3) members appointed by the Board of Administration. All Confederations shall be represented on the FIVB Tribunal.
• Also, following previous decisions of the Board and President Jizhong Wei’s meeting with the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) secretary general Matthieu Reeb in January, CAS was recognised as the ultimate appeals body. Disputes arising from the Constitution, the Regulations and decisions of FIVB and of its judicial bodies shall be submitted exclusively to CAS and be definitively settled by a tribunal constituted in accordance with the Code of Sports-related Arbitration (CAS Code). Subject to Article 2.3.2.3, recourse may be made to CAS only after all FIVB-internal remedies have been exhausted. The parties concerned shall undertake to comply with the CAS Code and to accept and enforce CAS decisions in good faith.
President of the FIVB Legal Commission Hannu Kananen explained to members the key points of the different FIVB judicial bodies as well as the new disciplinary regulations as per below:
The Appeals Panel
• empowered to decide on appeals.
• Specific provisions in the Disciplinary Regulations
• Further appeal to CAS
The Ethics Panel
• empowered to review issues of ethical nature and submit proposals to the BoA or the Congress.
• Specific provisions in the Disciplinary Regulations
The FIVB Tribunal
• empowered to decide on financial disputes between players, coaches and clubs – voluntary for parties and free of charge
• Ex aequo et bono applied (general considerations of justice and fairness without reference to any particular national or international law)
• Appeal to CAS
• To speed up case management, cases within one Confederation will be heard by the arbitrator from that Continent
Disciplinary Regulations
• Replacing FIVB Code of Conduct
• Revised text and structure – however, the operationally important parts inherited from FIVB CoC
• IOC Code of Ethics incorporated with adaptations to FIVB’s needs & annex A (IOC’s principles of good governance)
A proposal to increase the size of the Board of Administration from 32 members to 37 and increase the executive committee from 13 members to 18 was not approved, as well as a proposal to change the composition of the FIVB Executive Group to include the five Confederation Presidents.
The Congress also approved the appointments to the Ethics Panel of the following members:
AVC – Khlaid Abu Rashid (KSA)
CAVB – Abdelhadi Ghzali (MAR)
CEV – Lisa Waniright (ENG)
CSV – Ruben Urrutia Guimares (URU)
NORCECA – Jose Joaquin Puello (DOM)
The third and final day of the FIVB Congress will take place on Friday, which will be highlighted by the election of a new FIVB President.
