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LAUSANNE,
Switzerland -- The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) joins
the worldwide chorus of support following the successful reception and
endorsement of key Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms at the extraordinary IOC
session in Monaco today, particularly regarding the adoption of a more
flexible Olympic sports programme.
On
behalf of the worldwide baseball and softball family, WBSC President
Riccardo Fraccari congratulated and thanked IOC President Thomas Bach,
the IOC Members and working groups for leading and driving the reforms,
which sport experts say will open a new chapter in world sport.
"The
WBSC fully shares the IOC's vision of Olympic reform under President
Bach, and stands ready to support and assist the Olympic Movement in
implementing the reforms, wherever baseball and softball can
help," President Fraccari said.
"Above
all the Olympic Games is the world's most inspirational sporting event,
and the Agenda 2020 reforms will inspire more young people and women,
who are the future of all sports, to take up more sport and to
participate in sport and in the values of sport, and make sport more
relevant to the next generation, and as a catalyst for change in our
communities and societies," President Fraccari said.
President
Fraccari indicated that the WBSC would wait for guidance and direction
from the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 organisers to determine how the new
reforms could involve baseball and softball.
As
potential Olympic sports, baseball and softball -- sports that embody
and promote gender-equality -- would also help to take the Olympic
values and focus on sport to 65 million players and 250 million fans at
all levels worldwide, and make the Olympic Games more relevant in more
regions of the world where baseball and softball are growing in
popularity, especially among young people and women, and have become
national sports.
President
Fraccari said that as the world governing body overseeing baseball and
softball, the WBSC is humbled by the opportunity provided by the
reforms to be included in the Olympic Games which enable future Olympic
host cities and organising committees, including Tokyo 2020, to include
additional sporting events in the Olympic sports programme, which could
potentially include baseball and softball, two of the most popular
sports in the world that have experienced a wave of global development
in recent years.
The
new more flexible approach to Olympic sport approved by the IOC session
has provided a massive boost of optimism and hope that the changes
could result in baseball and softball joining the Olympic Games sports
programme.
"It's
like when the manager calls you off the bench to pick up the bat and
warm up, and the bases are loaded," President Fraccari said.
"All you want to do is swing for the fences!
"Today,
there is excitement circulating around the baseball and softball world
and there is great hope that our athletes will now have a real
opportunity -- the pinnacle and highest honour in our sport -- to play
for their country, aiming to win an Olympic gold medal.
"The
reforms herald a new era for sports and athletes worldwide,
and provide important hope and inspiration for sports and athletes
wanting to participate in the world's most important global sporting
event, the Olympic Games," said President Fraccari.
The
world governing body leader was confident that if included, baseball
and softball could significantly enhance the Olympic experience,
building on the vast fan, player and community support levels for the
bat-and-ball sports worldwide.
"While
baseball and softball have very deep historic and contemporary
connections in sporting communities and at all levels of society in
Japan, the sports are experiencing worldwide popularity and growth,
with new as well as existing and upgraded venues able to host the
sports in both traditional and new markets in Africa, the Middle East
as well as in Europe," he said.
President
Fraccari said the huge legions of young people and women who play and
support baseball and softball at all levels across the world, along
with strong sponsor, broadcaster and viewing audiences and support
would increase levels of excitement and engagement at the Olympic
Games.
President Fraccari
said the WBSC had devised a new shorter and more compact format for
Olympic baseball and softball which included the use of a shared and
existing competition venue in order to ensure the baseball and softball
events were sustainable and affordable and leave meaningful sporting
and community legacies for young people and women after the Games. | 
