Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) president Achyuta Samanta on Thursday met top officials of the international volleyball federation in Manila, Philippines, and discussed measures to popularise the game in India in a big way.

Samanta represented India as the president of the VFI for the first time at the invitation of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF).

Samanta, who took over as the president of VFI in 2020, met the president of the Federation of International Volleyball (FIVB), Ary Graça, during the annual national meeting of the worldwide volleyball governing body and discussed at length initiatives to develop a country-wide passion for the game and its appeal.

Samanta, during his day-long visit, also met FIVB general director Fabio Azevedo at the gathering that is being attended by federation heads from 222 countries. Samanta was assured by both Graca and Azevedo of all support to popularising and developing volleyball in India.

The Manila meeting is coinciding with the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Nations League (Men- Week 2), being held from June 21 to 26, 2022 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. Samanta is being accompanied by the joint secretary of VFI and secretary of Odisha Volleyball Association, Gaganendu Dash.