Volleyball Foundation
From watching a grainy video of Seoul 1988 to 12,000 children across 400 villages – the former India captain’s Brahmaputra Volleyball League was honoured by the IOC President on one of world sport’s biggest stages
A coach. A young boy. A recording of the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games. That’s where Abhijit Bhattacharya’s journey began.
On Thursday in Birmingham, it came full circle as the former captain of the Indian men’s national volleyball team and pioneering grassroots leader received the IOC Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) Champions Award from IOC President Kirsty Coventry at the International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport Global Summit.
For the FIVB Volleyball Foundation, which supports Bhattacharya’s work in rural Assam, through the Brahmaputra Volleyball League (BVL), it was a moment of immense pride – international recognition of what one person’s vision, backed by a community and a sport, can achieve.
The man who brought volleyball to 400 villages
Bhattacharya’s numbers alone tell a remarkable story. Through the Assam Volleyball Mission 100 and the Brahmaputra Volleyball League (BVL), his work now reaches more than 12,000 children across 400 village teams, making it one of the largest community-based grassroots volleyball programmes anywhere in the world.
But the numbers only hint at the depth of the impact. In communities along the Brahmaputra, where opportunities for children – and especially for girls – can be scarce, the BVL has made one principle non-negotiable: girls and boys participate as equals, on the same courts, with the same chances. Volleyball is the entry point; what follows is education, inclusion, confidence and stronger, healthier communities.
That is what the IOC honoured in Birmingham: a movement that is changing what growing up in rural Assam can look like.
A journey that came full circle
Receiving his award, Bhattacharya took the audience back to where it all started – a first coach who inspired him with videos of the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games. That spark carried a boy from Assam all the way to the captaincy of the Indian men’s national team. And when his playing days ended, he turned back towards home, determined that the next generation would not have to wait for their own chance encounter with the sport.
In a heartfelt speech, he paid tribute to the women who have shaped his life and career, thanked the volunteers, communities and partners who have helped the BVL to flourish, and expressed his gratitude to the FIVB, the FIVB Volleyball Foundation and everyone who has supported the project’s remarkable growth.
His recognition is a powerful validation of the Foundation’s belief that volleyball can change the world.
No shortcuts, just decades of belief
The summit also featured FIVB President and FIVB Volleyball Foundation Vice-President Fabio Azevedo, who joined a high-profile panel The Business of Women’s Sport.
Volleyball’s standing as one of the world’s most gender-balanced sports, he explained, was not built on a single breakthrough moment. It is the product of decades of consistent commitment – equal opportunities, equal prize money and sustained investment in elite women’s competitions long before women’s sport became one of the fastest-growing sectors in the global sports industry.
The results speak for themselves. Women’s volleyball today attracts some of the largest audiences in international sport, while the creation of Volleyball World, in partnership with CVC Capital Partners, has accelerated commercial growth and enabled greater reinvestment back into volleyball worldwide.
From the summit’s biggest stage to the villages of Assam, the message from Birmingham was the same: gender equality in volleyball is not an initiative. It is how the sport is built – and how it intends to keep growing.
