President of FIVB declared guest of honor

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, September 30, 2011- The President of FIVB Mr Jizhong Wei was declared “Guest of Honor” by the Municipality of Santo Domingo during a special ceremony held at the City Hall on Friday.

Mr Wei is visiting the Dominican Republic for an inspection visit of the NORCECA headquarters located in the capital of the country and then he will participate in the several activities related with the Confederation’s Congress to take place in Punta Cana on October 6-8. The assembly will be preceded by a two-day management seminar for National Federations category I and II.

He was the recipient of a certificate unanimously approved by the members of the Municipality Council. It was presented by Dr Thania Baez, Vice President of the City Government.

“I receive this honor on behalf of my colleagues of FIVB and the Volleyball and Beach Volleyball family,” Wei said in his acceptance speech. “This is not for me but for all the players around the world.”

“I want to congratulate the government of the city of Santo Domingo for its support to volleyball and beach volleyball,” he added.

Mr Wei was accompanied by Mr. Cristobal Marte Hoffiz, FIVB 1^st Executive Vice President and President of NORCECA, Mr. Andre Meyer, Executive Vice President and Treasurer of FIVB and Mr. Theofanis Tsiokris, FIVB 2^nd Executive Vice President.

Mrs. Marta Centeno de Sajche, FIVB Executive Vice President, and FIVB Board of Administration members Mr Douglas Beal and Mr. Mushtaque Mohammed also attended the ceremony.

Earlier on Friday, Mr. Wei and his comitive toured around the NORCECA headquarters and the FIVB Regional Development Center in Dominican Republic where he received explanations from Mr. Marte Hoffiz and Prof. Nelson Ramirez, Director of the Center.

He also visited the premises of the Dominican National Volleyball Confederation where he was received by the executive committee led by its president Mr. Ramon A. Garcia.