Ruben Acosta, President of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) announced here on Wednesday his retirement at the 31st FIVB Congress.
"I am leaving the presidency during this Congress so that a new era can unfold for the FIVB," the 74-year-old Mexican told a press conference after the FIVB Congress.
Acosta, who has served as the FIVB president since the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984, is instrumental in promoting the growth of indoor volleyball as a global sport and getting beach volleyball onto the Olympic program.
As one of the longest serving, most powerful and influential of Olympic sports administrators, he changed the rules of the sport to make it television-friendly, affiliated more nations than any other Olympic sport.
First Executive Vice-President Wei Jizhong from China will takeover the leadership as president until the next elections foreseen in 2012.
Acosta is to stay as President until the end of the Beijing Olympics.
The final day of Acosta's presidency will be August 24, 2008, when he will officially transfer the Presidency to Wei.
The FIVB Executive Committee unanimously decided to invite Mr. Acosta to become FIVB Honorary Life President.
Volleyball is currently one of the big five international sports, and its governing body FIVB, founded in 1947, is the largest international sporting federation in the world.
Source: Xinhua
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