WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari: More exciting times ahead for baseball/softball following LA28 inclusion

Monday was a momentous day for the WorldBaseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) following baseball and softball’s confirmationon the sport programme for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

The news means baseball will be played aspart of the main programme for the seventh time and softball for the sixth. Itmeans our athletes can now dream about representing their countries at anOlympic Games again. And it means that we can further build on the huge success of baseball and softball atTokyo 2020.

We are already eagerly anticipating our sports’ return to the Olympicstage, where passionate fans will fill the stands, roaring in support of theirheroes. And everyone involved in our sport is celebrating this success.

Together with the LA28 Organizing Committee, we have a great vision forbaseball and softball at the LA28 Games and whilst we still have plenty to workthrough and finalise, I’m sure baseball and softball is going to be a huge hit.

The end product will be the result of much hard work, collaboration anddialogue with all our stakeholders. The cooperation already with all the majorprofessional leagues has been crucial and together, we’re looking forward to baseballand softball being a great success at LA28.

The support from our continental associations and our member federations has also been important, especially with our new projects such as Baseball5, eSport and parasport, which are helping our game reach new territories, become a sport for all and increasingly popular worldwide.

Not only will the Olympic Games showcaseour sport to a new audience and inspire a new generation of players, being onthe programme also means that the WBSC members will receive funding throughtheir National Olympic Committees. This will have a positive impact on the furtherdevelopment and growth of our sport with our National Federations able tostrengthen their NOC relationships and explore new player participationopportunities.

The WBSC is also a founding and permanentmember of the Olympic Esports Series, so our members will have the opportunityto participate in each edition of the OES and potentially in the OlympicEsports Games in the future.

All of this underlines how bright thefuture of our sport is. As we continue to meet many of the targets set in theWBSC Strategic Plan 2022-2028, baseball/softball continues to evolve andengage, providing more opportunities for more people of all ages to participateand stay active.

Let us not forget that in three years’time, our urban, dynamic and accessible discipline of Baseball5 will feature atthe Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026. This further emphasises the opportunitiesahead over the coming years and will give a new set of baseball and softballstars a chance of realising their Olympic dream.

We saw last week at the WBSC YouthBaseball5 World Cup the fun, energy and excitement our mixed-gender discipline bringsto the participants and the fans and I can’t wait to see this happening again onthe Olympic stage.

Of course, we will continue to inspire our athletesand fans to participate in all our sports as we further enhance and grow ourdisciplines. Our flagship tournament, the Premier12, will be a key part of thiswhen it takes place next year.

The work that we do in this area will gohand-in-hand with, and complement, our continued efforts to achieve ourultimate objective, which is to have baseball and softball as permanentfixtures on the Olympic programme.

The decision in Mumbai to approve ourinclusion in Los Angeles has only enhanced our desire to meet this goal. Thenext step will be ensuring that baseball and softball is included on the programmefor the Olympic Games Brisbane 2032.

None of this will distract the WBSC fromour continued work across the globe on all areas of baseball and softball but thisis definitely an exciting time to be involved in our sport.