WBSC renews agreements with Sportradar and Green Future Project

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) announced two important contract extensions with key integrity partners - Sportradar and Green Future Project.

The WBSC and Sportradar have been partners since announcing their initial agreement in 2022, with Sportradar providing tools to combat competition manipulation for WBSC international tournaments through their Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS), which monitors unusual betting behaviour.

The agreement also comprises ad-hoc pricing for any Intelligence and Investigations services, including due diligence for individuals and organisations, investigations and monitoring.

The WBSC’s fight against manipulation of competition continued when international baseball umpire Trent Thomas, who recently celebrated his 350th game in the Australian Baseball League, had the honour to speak at the IOC International Technical Officials (ITO) Global Webinar ahead of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on 14 January about the prevention of competition manipulation (PMC).

Thomas, a WBSC Global Ambassador of PMC, took the time to explain the importance of recognition and selection for Olympic Games officials. Given the hard work required to reach this level, an official will need to ensure they attend the duty without any influence from others. This includes an obligation not to reveal assignments when they are not publicly known.

Thomas’ speech marked the first time the IOC chose a speaker who is an international game official as well as a PMC Ambassador.

Meanwhile, the WBSC also announced the extension of its partnership with sustainability partner Green Future Project (GFP) to help combat its carbon emissions.

On January 1, 2023, the WBSC signed its first cooperation agreement with GFP and its strategic partner, Pilio, to implement its offset strategy for the restoration and preservation of its natural ecosystem by planting trees, protecting forests, and supporting projects that generate clean, renewable energy.

To date, the WBSC has absorbed or avoided 1,350 tonnes of CO2 emissions, planted 21,565 trees across protected areas totalling 2.17 hectres, which equates to 923,793  kilowatts per hour in the equivalent of renewable energy produced.

The WBSC is committed to providing a green template to its community, showing how sport can be an ambassador for meeting sustainability and social goals. One of the WBSC’s key projects in partnership with GFP includes the Tana River Forest Regeneration Project.

In early 2025, the WBSC, in collaboration with GFP, officially published its 2024 Carbon Footprint Report. The report serves as a diagnostic tool, offering a clear identification of the WBSC’s main sources of emissions to better prioritise future actions.