The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (English: International Volleyball Federation), commonly known by the acronym FIVB, is the international governing body for all forms of volleyball. Its headquarters are located in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its current president is Ary Graça of Brazil. History Before the FIVB was founded volleyball was part of the International Amateur Handball Federation. The FIVB was founded in France in April 1947. In the late 1940s, some of the European national federations began to address the issue of creating an international governing body for the sport of volleyball. Initial discussions eventually lead to the installation of a Constitutive Congress in 1947. Fourteen national federations representing five different continents attended the meetings where, between 18 and 20 April, the entity was officially formed, having Frenchman Paul Libaud as first president. The first Asia volleyball championship was held at Tokyo (Japan ) in 1995 and in this championship India had beaten Japan in final. One of the main goals of the 1947 Congress was achieved two years later with the establishment of the first international major volleyball event, the World Championship. In 1952, a women's version of the tournament was also introduced. In 1964, the IOC endorsed the addition of volleyball to the Olympic programme. By this time, the number of national federations affiliated to the FIVB had grown to 89. Later in that year (1969), a new international event, the World Cup was introduced. It would be turned into a qualifying event for the Olympic Games in 1991. Following Libaud's retirement and the election of Mexican Rubén Acosta Hernandez for the position of president in 1984, the FIVB moved its headquarters from Paris, France to Lausanne, Switzerland and intensified to an unprecedented level its policy of promoting volleyball on a worldwide basis. Measures taken in this direction include the establishment of annual competitions for men's and women's volleyball (the World League, in 1990, and the Grand Prix, in 1993), the indication of Beach volleyball as an Olympic event (1996) and a number of changes in the rules of the game with the purpose of enhancing public visibility. On 19 June 2008, Wei Jizhong () of China, who during this period served as the 1st Vice president took over during the 31st World Congress in Dubai when Dr. Rubén Acosta decided to step down. Mr. Jizhong Wei became the third president in the history of the FIVB. The handover