GENEVA - Newly elected president of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), Fabio Azevedo, has vowed to expand the global volleyball community and significantly increase the sport's value in the coming years.

"Basically, we have four pillars of our vision - integration, personalities, mass participation, and empowerment. We've developed the FIVB Empowerment program over the past four years, and we want to go far beyond. In the next eight years, we aim to reach 1.6 billion people connected to our sport," Azevedo said during the first roundtable discussion with media for the new president on Tuesday.

Azevedo, 53, was elected as the new president at the 39th FIVB World Congress in Porto, Portugal, on Nov 16. He will lead the organization for the next eight years.

"Development means creating more opportunities and investing equally in those countries and regions to improve their national teams," said Azevedo at the online meeting.

"Out of the 222 FIVB members, we currently have only 86 men's and 77 women's teams in the world rankings. We want to double these numbers in the next four years," he continued, adding that around 44 million US dollars have been invested for this purpose.

The success of volleyball, especially beach volleyball, at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games has encouraged Azevedo to envision further growth for the sport.

"The valuation of volleyball was about 27 million US dollars per Olympic cycle. For the next Olympic cycle in 2028, we expect this figure to rise from 27 million to 60 million, effectively doubling. By the cycle from 2028 to 2032, the estimate is to nearly double again to 105 million," the Brazilian noted.

The Volleyball Empowerment project, launched in February 2021, aims to revolutionize volleyball and beach volleyball for national teams worldwide by providing resources for team enhancement and professional management.

"In 2023, we distributed 53 percent of our entire revenue as prize money through Volleyball Empowerment. This will increase to 59 percent over the next two years, as approved by the FIVB Congress in Porto. By 2028, we expect to distribute 70 percent of our revenue. The money generated by the sport is being reinvested back into the sport," he added.

Appointed as the General Director of FIVB in 2013, Azevedo brings extensive experience and knowledge of the organization, along with a comprehensive vision for its future.

"I'm calling the phase that began in November 2024 as phase three. Phase one was from 2012 to 2018 when we launched the Volleyball Nations League - a bold and professional decision. Phase two was when we recognized that involving an external investor could help protect our strategic legacy while accelerating the sport's growth.

"Phase three is about the global volleyball movement - expanding the foundation, increasing market share, and creating a global movement where volleyball stands for its values and contributes to the shared mission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)," Azevedo explained.

"Everyone talks about making the world a better place through sport. That's what we intend to achieve over the next eight years," he concluded.