SOURCE: World Baseball Softball Confederation
New Olympic Campaign Logo, Theme, Social Media Platforms “PlayBall2020.com” and Vision to Give Every Boy & Girl Chance to Play Ball also Launched.
TOKYO -- Baseball and softball players, supporters, and fans worldwide - from professional leagues to local clubs and junior teams - have come out 'Swinging For The Fences' and pitching for the Olympic Games, following the launch of a global campaign to get baseball and softball back into the Games
The campaign was launched in Tokyo, one of the global power centres for the two sports. It followed an historic vote by international baseball and softball federation leaders and delegates worldwide – from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, including China, India, Ireland, Iraq, Iran, Russia, Iceland, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa and many other nations - to ratify a landmark constitution that unites the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and International Softball Federation (ISF) as a single new international sporting federation, known as the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).
NEW WORLD BASEBALL SOFTBALL BODY BORN
The birth of the world's newest international sporting federation is a milestone in the campaign to rejoin the Olympic Games sports program after being delisted in 2005.
“This is an historic day”, said IBAF president and WBSC co-president, Riccardo Fraccari. “We have brought a new level of worldwide unity and determination to our quest to return to the Games. The 65 million currently playing baseball and softball around the world now have a single federation to rally behind.”
President Fraccari said the international baseball community was “honoured and humbled" to have the opportunity to rejoin the Olympic Games in 2020, and thanked the IOC for guidance and trust provided in forming the new federation, which he said would “provide greater support and resources for the athletes and help to develop the sports”.
Fraccari continued: “We are on a great journey to return our global sport to the Olympic stage. We’ve been listening and learning from the Olympic Family and the IOC to understand what it takes to be included as a sport at the Olympic Games."
"This is in the best interests of the athletes and putting the welfare of the athletes and the future of sport first, and inspiring young athletes to stand on the highest podium that an athlete can aspire to—the Olympic Games," he said.
"We have reached a milestone in our journey to put baseball and softball back in the Olympic Games, and today I am proud to announce that the full membership of the International Baseball Federation voted to ratify the new Constitution of the World Baseball Softball Confederation."
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