FIVB President Dr Ary S. Graça F° with the Special Olympics delegation and Jackie Silva, Special Olympics Brazil Amabssador and Vladimir Grbic, Special Olympics Ambassador for volleyball.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 18, 2016 - The FIVB today re-emphasised volleyball’s position as a universal sport for all as the federation signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Special Olympics at the FIVB Volleyball House in Rio.
As part of the collaboration, both parties agree to work to position volleyball as the number one family sport entertainment in the world and raise awareness of the Special Olympics movement.
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FIVB President Dr. Ary Graça welcomed the Special Olympics delegation to the Volleyball House in Copacabana for the signing ceremony. Special Olympics, which was founded in 1968, is a global movement that empowers people with intellectual disabilities to become accepted and valued members of their communities.
The MoU will form a key part of Volleyball Your Way which is a campaign by the FIVB designed to embrace all opportunities and forms of playing volleyball including sitting volleyball. Sitting volleyball has been showcased at the FIVB’s CopaCourts during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and on Friday there will be a sitting volleyball exhibition match involving volleyball legends.
FIVB President Dr. Ary Graça said: “Universality is one of the FIVB’s core principles. Our VolleyballYourWay campaign is a celebration of the inclusivity and accessibility of the sport and today’s MoU signing is an important part of our commitment to introduce volleyball to audiences in every corner of the world. I am looking forward to working with Special Olympics to help grow volleyball around the world and to help raise the profile of the inspiring work achieved by Special Olympics.”