World Baseball Softball Confederation
| Abbreviation | WBSC |
|---|---|
| Founded | 14 April 2013 |
| Type | Federation of National Associations |
| Purpose | World Governing Body |
| Headquarters | Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Location | |
|
Region served
|
Worldwide |
|
Membership
|
141 National Federations; 4 Pro Baseball "Associate Members" |
|
Official language
|
English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean |
|
President
|
Riccardo Fraccari |
| Affiliations | International Olympic Committee, ARISF, SportAccord |
| Website | www.wbsc.org |
World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the world governing body for the sports of baseball and softball. It was established in 2013 by the merger of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and International Softball Federation (ISF), the former world governing bodies for baseball and softball, respectively. Under WBSC's organizational structure, IBAF and ISF now serve as the Baseball Division and Softball Division of WBSC. Each division is governed by an Executive Committee, while the WBSC is governed by an Executive Board.
Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, the WBSC was granted recognition as the sole competent global authority for both the sports of baseball and softball by the International Olympic Committee at the 125th IOC Session on September 8, 2013.
The WBSC has 208 National Federation Members in 141 countries and territories across Asia, Africa, Americas, Europe and Oceania. Professional baseball organizations are also included and form an arm of the WBSC as Associate Members.
As the recognised governing body in baseball/softball, the WBSC is charged with overseeing all international competitions and holds the exclusive rights of all competitions, tournaments and world championships featuring National Teams. These rights would be extended to the Olympic Games, if baseball and/or softball return on the Olympic Programme. WBSC's members hold the rights to organize and select National Teams. This exclusive authority of the WBSC and its Members in each constituent country to sanction and regulate the sport of baseball applies in the 141 territories in which the WBSC has an associated National Federation.
Discussions to merge baseball and softball world governing bodies were sparked by a Memorandum of Understanding that saw baseball and softball leaders agree to form a joint bid to be added to the 2020 Olympics Games sports program.
Following its exclusion of baseball and softball from the Summer Olympics in 2005, the IOC reclassified baseball and softball as two disciplines of the same sport. As the IOC's guidance indicated the necessity for baseball and softball to be jointly considered for reinstatement in the Olympic programme, the two independent International Federations set out on a path toward a full and complete merger.
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