With his inaugural year at the helm of the FIVB quickly coming to a close, President Jizhong Wei has recapped the first 12 months of his four-year term in an annual report sent to all affiliated National Federations.

President Wei began his report by detailing the many accomplishments of his predecessor, Dr. Ruben Acosta, including some of his more illustrious achievements such as bringing Beach Volleyball to the Olympic Games, developing the game at both the grassroots level and the professional, and instituting a specialized administrative and technical team at the FIVB.

Such a legacy led Mr. Wei to administer the FIVB in the "spirit of continuation and evolution." Mr. Wei said that his term would be characterized by transparency and openness, democracy and decentralization, and control and supervision.

The president restated his promises to remain in office for a single term only and to ensure that all commissions made are funneled back into the FIVB, in keeping with the Olympic practice that "money coming from sports should be used for sports."

With that in mind, National Federations are already receiving more assistance than in past years as the FIVB continues to nurture the game around the world. The National Federations are also being given a greater say in the governing of the sport, and greater communication and coordination between the FIVB and such bodies has resulted. President Wei has been adamant about strengthening ties with the IOC and other sports federations, which is already starting to bear fruit in the financing of an FIVB development project.

As for the management of the FIVB's own finances and investment portfolio, a more conservative approach has been implemented to offset any effects of the world financial crisis. Feasible measures and stricter budgets are in place for development projects and transparent negotiations are under way with potential organizers for competitions after 2012. On the event front, Mr. Wei outlined a number of exciting new changes, including new reforms in Beach Volleyball, the beginning of the FIVB World Club Championship for men in 2009, and the introduction of the 2-libero system at the Grand Champions competition in Japan this year.

There have also been a number of changes at the FIVB Secretariat, Mr. Wei said, including more frequent meetings, a greater number of staff members, an improved FIVB website and more detailed and transparent administrative regulations. Finally, in the spirit of teamwork, President Wei thanked his colleagues for all their support during his first year, in particular First Executive Vice-President Cristobal Marte, Second Executive Vice-President Theofanis Tsiokris, and Executive Vice-President and Treasurer Andre Meyer.