Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — A delegation headed by the President of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), Ari Grasso, is currently in Uzbekistan. The guest visited the National Olympic Committee of Uzbekistan.

Present at the meeting were the Minister of Sports, Adham Ikramov; the Minister of Internal Affairs and Chairman of the Volleyball Federation of the country, Lieutenant General Pulat Bobojonov; the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and First Deputy Chairman of the Volleyball Federation of Uzbekistan, Major General Bekmurod Abdullaev; and the Secretary General of the NOC, Oibek Kasimov.

Pulat Bobojonov opened the meeting by discussing the projects being implemented under the President’s leadership to develop volleyball in Uzbekistan. He highlighted the collaboration with the Ministry of Sports and the National Olympic Committee, the organization of various competitions to popularize volleyball, and seminars to improve the qualifications of local specialists. He also emphasized that the rankings of our national teams have significantly increased and that a foreign specialist has been brought into the coaching staff.

In his speech, Adham Ikramov noted that Mr. Grasso’s visit has historical significance and that great importance is attached to popularizing volleyball to elevate the sport to a new level. He also mentioned the successful performance of the Uzbekistan delegation at the Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024 and emphasized that more licenses are planned to be obtained in team sports at the next Games.

Oibek Kasimov added that full preparations are underway for the Youth Asian Games Tashkent-2025, an Olympic Village is being built, and including volleyball in the Games program will be an important step for the development of this sport.

Ari Grasso noted that Uzbekistan pays great attention to the development of sports, which pleases him greatly. As a professional banker, he emphasized that such projects require significant financial investment and expressed confidence that government support will yield results in the near future.

During the conversation, several projects for the development of volleyball and further steps to strengthen mutual cooperation were discussed. As part of the visit, the honorary guest will familiarize himself with the country’s sports infrastructure.