Baseball and Softball reach the next step for Olympic re-entry

After Baseball and Softball combined forces in constructing the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) the singular organization has now survived the first round of cuts for the 2020 Olympic games, as the IOC reduced the list from 8 to 3. The remaining sports include Baseball (Male) & Softball (Female), wrestling and squash.

Riccardo Fraccari, the President of the International Baseball Federation (Co President of WBSC, with Don Porter who is the President of the International Softball Federation), spoke about what an important pass this was for the WBSC and how without the combined efforts of both Baseball and Softball, none of this would have been possible. Now, out of the remaining sports on the list the WBSC will have their plate full, especially because the other sports in question have a long history behind them.

The head of the IOC, Jacques Rogge came out with a statement after the decision was made on the three sports that will remain in contention for the 2020 Olympic games, “We received eight well prepared presentations from different International Sporting Federations, and after the anonymous voting process, I feel my panel did an excellent job with the remaining list.”

The sports being dropped from contention were Karate, Roller Sports, Sport Climbing, Wakeboarding and Wushu.

The three sports recommended by the EB now advance to a final vote at the IOC Session scheduled for September in Buenos Aires.

The World Baseball Softball Confederations presentation was prepared and presented by the organizations executives together with the Venezuelan national Maria Soto and the Australian (ex MLB), Justin Huber.

"We recognize that there is still a long road ahead but we will continue to work to preserve our place in the Olympic Games." (Fraccari)