The leaders of the new World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), an organisation formed by merging the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and the International Softball Federation (ISF), presented their unified vision for the inclusion of baseball and softball in the 2020 Olympic Games to the IOC’s Olympic Programme Commission on 19 December in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Led by WBSC Co-Presidents Don Porter and Riccardo Fraccari, the delegation also included 2008 softball Olympian Maria Soto from Venezuela and professional baseball player Alessandro Maestri from Italy, as well as current IBAF Vice President Antonio Castro and ISF Secretary General Beng Choo Low.
The WBSC’s proposal included shared use of a single competition venue and single training field by baseball and softball, with a fast and easy transition between the two fields of play, streamlined six-day Olympic tournaments for both sports and a single point of contact for the IOC and the 2020 Olympic Organising Committee.
Listening and learning
ISF President Don Porter (left) and IBAF President Riccardo Fraccari
“During our absence from the Olympic Programme, we have been listening and learning and, in the process, have challenged ourselves to be imaginative about how we deliver real and tangible added value for the Olympic Movement,” said Don Porter.
“In addition, we set out to show how combining our disciplines would create new economic and operational efficiencies for the Olympic Organising Committee and the IOC. Not quite two sports for the price of one, but close!”
Riccardo Fraccari said: “We put forward men’s baseball and women’s softball for their global popularity in terms of participation levels, fan and media interest and the important issue of gender equity, as well as their enormous commercial power and strength.
“We realise that the professional baseball players of the world, together with the world’s elite softball players, could bring enormous value and appeal to the Games, and our presentation was designed to highlight the fact that we enjoy the full support of all the world’s leading professional baseball leagues,” Fraccari continued.
“We were truly grateful to the Programme Commission members for their interest in our proposal, which was reflected in the multitude of useful and thoughtful questions they asked,” added Fraccari.
Governance structure
Presidents Porter and Fraccari also addressed issues around the WBSC governance structure, with the current International Baseball and Softball Federations in the process of formally merging following the approval of their respective Congresses, but subject to approval by the IOC Executive Board and Session in 2013.
“For our first presentation as partners with baseball, we are proud and pleased with our performance here today before the Commission,” Don Porter said, “and especially for the messages of unity, humility and collaboration we were able to deliver. We understand that what we are asking the from IOC is a great honour and one that we have to earn.”
European Games bid
WBSC Co-Presidents Porter and Fraccari are also making a bid to have baseball and softball included in the inaugural European Games in 2015 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
In a letter to European Games President Patrick Hickey, Porter and Fraccari said: “... we wish to express our keen interest in being a part of the European Games Programme in 2015 and beyond, and … would welcome an eventual meeting to discuss this important matter in depth and better identify how baseball and softball can fit within your vision of these Games.”