Baseball and softball bodies unite in effort to boost Olympic pitch

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to throw the two sports off the Olympic programme in July 2005, and the last appearance of baseball and softball at the Games was at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. As separate bids, the two sports then failed to make it onto the programme of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The IOC will vote on one new sport for the 2020 Olympic programme in September 2013. Baseball and softball are up against karate, roller sports, sports climbing, squash, wakeboard and wushu, with the heads of the two governing bodies united in their belief that a merger will help boost their prospects. The new federation is set to be provisionally named the International Baseball and Softball Federation.

?We feel if we can work together it might be much more possible to regain Olympic status,? ISF president Don Porter told Reuters on Sunday. ?Both our sports are trying to find things that will improve them. Become more attractive and interesting.?

IBAF president, Riccardo Fraccari, added: ?We decided to join into one federation. There has been unanimity in this. At our congress in Dallas there was unanimity. All professional groups are participating in this. The decision by the IOC to take us off the Olympic Programme obviously disappointed us but we learned a lot. We looked into the reasons why and we addressed them.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sportbusiness/~3/180iWd8Kvwk/baseball-and-softball-bodies-unite-in-effort-to-boost-olympic-pitch

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