The officials were elected during the second day of the virtual FIVB World Congress today and will join FIVB President Ary Graça and the five Continental Confederation heads to form the new Board.

Asian Volleyball Confederation members to be elected included Australia’s Craig Carracher, China’s Cai Yi, Iran’s Mohammed Davarzani, Cook Islands’ Hugh Graham, Thailand’s Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai and Japan’s Kenji Shimaoka.

African Volleyball Confederation members included Nigeria’s Habu Ahmed Gumel, Ivory Coast’s Sanga Issouf Kone and Botswana’s Daniel Molaodi.

Italy’s Renato Arena, Croatia’s Zdeslav Barač, Belgium’s Geert De Dobbeleer, the Netherlands’ Michael Everaert, Slovakia’s Lubor Halanda, France’s Annie Peytavin, Poland’s Mirosław Przedpełski and Russia’s Stanislav Shevchenko will represent the European Volleyball Confederation.

The South American Volleyball Confederation will be represented by Paraguay’s Roberto Wilfrido Escobar Gonzalez, Argentina’s Juan Antonio Gutierrez and Brazil’s Marco Tullio Teixeira, while the North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation will see Canada’s Mark Eckert, Trinidad and Tobago’s Mushtaque Mohammed, Honduras’ Félix Ambrosio Sabio Gonzalez and St Kitts and Nevis’ Glenn Quinlan on the FIVB Board.

The FIVB confirmed Cuba’s Alejandrina Mireya Luis Hernandez and Scotland’s Margaret Ann Fleming were elected to the FIVB Board as gender-in-minority members.

They received 137 and 120 votes respectively, with Venezuela’s Judith Rodriguez missing out after securing 38 votes.

The FIVB Congress also approved the appointment of the internal auditors, with Majoré Louis Timba and Terry Sasser selected, with Julio Perez Alfaro approved as the substitute internal auditor.

The governing body said the Congress approved its recent financial reports, as well as amendments to the organisation’s Constitution.

One of the key changes was to reduce the age limit for FIVB Presidential candidates from 75 to 70.

A reduction of 75 down to 72 was approved for FIVB Board candidates and officials in a position of responsibility at the FIVB and at continental level.

The Congress approved the creation of four new seats on the FIVB Board, which will be appointed by the FIVB President.

The move is claimed to further increase the representation of different stakeholders across volleyball.

The four new seats must be occupied by an athlete, gender-in-minority, director in charge from FIVB Secretariat and an independent member.

The change also sees the removal of co-opted members from the FIVB Executive Committee.

It is claimed the move aligns with recent trends in good governance which encourage International Sports Federations to add seats for athletes and independent members, whilst increasing gender balance on administrative boards.

Based on this proposal, the Congress also approved the removal of co-opted members from the FIVB Executive Committee.

Revisions to the definition of voting majority were approved, along with changes to provisions relating to signature of contracts and competence of the President.

The FIVB says the changes will come into effect three months after the closure of the FIVB Congress.

The FIVB Congress also saw the presentation of a new Volleyball Empowerment project, which aims to support National Federations to improve the level of their teams and athletes.

The project will use the financial investment received from the launch of Volleyball World to identify proactive National Federations and empower them with the human and technical resources needed to unlock their full potential, such as coaches, trainers, managers and physiotherapists.

Volleyball World was launched earlier this week, with the commercial initiative billed as being worth $300 million (£220 million/€250 million).

The FIVB is working in partnership with CVC Capital Partners Fund VII, which has invested in and worked with numerous other sports including Formula 1, Moto GP and rugby union.

"Through Volleyball Empowerment, we can help your national teams and athletes reach their full potential and achieve their goals," said Graça.

"This would be a win-win situation for all of us.

"Because the more we can spread volleyball across the world, the more we can increase the number of national teams participating in our main events.

"And this will increase the relevance of volleyball worldwide, making it more popular than ever before.

"A strong national team participating in and winning big competitions will become role models for younger generations, creating volleyball fans for life.

"And this is so important, because sport has the power to transform lives and create a better more peaceful world where everyone belongs."

The FIVB says it hopes to professionalise the administration of National Federations, advance the skill level of national teams and create role models for millions of fans.

The governing body will also invest in improving the digital home of the FIVB Projects Platform to establish a comprehensive monitoring and reporting system with key performance indicators.

Project results will be shared openly with National Federations to ensure a streamlined transfer of knowledge.

A Volleyball Empowerment webinar is expected to be held in the coming months to provide more detailed information before the platform opens for applications later in the year.