World Baseball Softball Confederation

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"WBSC" redirects here. For other uses, see WBSC (disambiguation).
World Baseball Softball Confederation
290px
Abbreviation WBSC
Founded 14 April 2013; 11 years ago (2013-04-14)
Type Sports federation
Legal status Governing body of baseball, softball and Baseball5
Headquarters Pully, Switzerland
Location
  • Av. du Général Guisan 45
Region served
 Worldwide
Membership
 141 national federations; 7 professional league "associate members"
Official language
 English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean
President
 Riccardo Fraccari
Main organ
 Congress
Subsidiaries <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Affiliations International Olympic Committee, ARISF, GAISF
Website www.wbsc.org

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the international governing body for the sports of baseball, softball, Baseball5 and Blind baseball.[1] It was established in 2013 by the merger of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and International Softball Federation (ISF). Under the WBSC's organizational structure, the IBAF and ISF serve as the confederation's baseball and softball divisions, respectively. Each division is governed by an executive committee, while the WBSC is governed by an executive board.

The WBSC has 208 National Federation members in 141 countries and territories across Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania. Professional baseball organizations as well as youth organizations are also included and form an arm of the WBSC as associate members. Headquartered in Pully, 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 in 2013.

As the recognised governing body of baseball, softball, and Baseball5, the WBSC is charged with overseeing all international competitions. It holds the exclusive rights of all competitions, tournaments and world championships featuring national teams, including the Olympic Games, and WBSC-associated federations hold the right to organize and select national teams[2]

Discussions to merge the two separate world governing bodies for the sports of baseball and softball 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 Olympic Games sports program.[3][4] Baseball and softball were dropped from the 2012 Summer Olympic program and were scheduled to be reinstated for the 2020 Olympics, but the 2020 Olympics were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2021, the International Olympic Committee announced that baseball and softball would not be part of the 2024 Paris Olympics.[5] Baseball5 is still set to feature in the 2026 Youth Olympics.

History

File:WBSC flag.svg
Flag of the WBSC

Following its exclusion of baseball and softball from the Summer Olympics in 2005,[6] the IOC reclassified baseball and softball as two disciplines of the same sport.[7] 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.

In 2012, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and the International Softball Federation (ISF) laid out the essential ground rules for partnership and began working on a constitution that would guide the merger and provide a framework for governance, ethics and operations. At a historic IBAF Congress in Tokyo in April 2013, the Constitution was ratified and since it had already been approved by an ISF working group empowered to do so, the WBSC was officially formalized and empowered.[citation needed]

The creation of a single federation allowed for the permanent alignment, merger and management of baseball and softball at the world level.[8] The merger resulted in an immediate boost to the governance, universality and gender equality of baseball and softball, criteria for an Olympic sport that are heavily valued by the IOC.[citation needed]

At the first-ever World Baseball Softball Congress—in Hammamet, Tunisia—Italy's Fraccari was elected to a seven-year term as the first president of WBSC, along with a fully elected Executive Board.[9]

Creation of Baseball5

File:Cuba Baseball5 game.jpg
B5 batter hitting the ball into field.

In 2017,[10] the WBSC introduced a third discipline to be played at an international level, Baseball5 (B5), which is a five-on-five, five-inning game designed to be played with only a rubber ball on a small field. It is targeted at underserved communities,[11] as well as offering a low-cost and fast-paced entry point to baseball and softball in new places around the world.[12] The WBSC introduced it to aid its ultimate goal of having a billion-strong baseball-softball community by 2030.[13] A major difference between B5 and baseball/softball is that the game is played without a pitcher, with the batter starting each play with the ball.[14] It was inspired by various Latin American street games, such as "cuatro esquinas" (four corners) in Cuba,[15] and has been played in some international tournaments in the Americas and Europe,[16][12][17] as well as having been implemented in some schools in various countries.[18][19] It is due to feature in the 2026 Youth Olympic Games,[20] and has two World Cups for youth and senior players alternating each year starting in 2022, with both of these international events being played in a mixed-gender format.[21] The WBSC is also planning to, as part of its general push into E-Sports, introduce a video game version of Baseball5 in the near future.[22]

Coed slow pitch softball

The first official WBSC Coed Slow Pitch World Cup was greenlit on 9 June 2022, during a meeting by the WBSC Executive Board in Pully, Switzerland.[23][24] It was to be held in Guadalajara, Mexico in December 2023,[25] but it was cancelled in October 2023 due to logistical challenges.[26]

Organizational structure

The WBSC is governed by the executive board, which consists of fourteen members: president, secretary general, two vice presidents, baseball executive vice president, softball executive vice president, treasurer, four members at large, athlete representative for baseball, athlete representative for softball, and global ambassador.[27]

The Baseball Division is governed by an executive committee, which has thirteen members: president, secretary general, 2nd vice president, 3rd vice president, treasurer, three members at large, four continental vice presidents (one each for Africa, Americas, Europe, and Oceania), and executive director.[citation needed]

The Softball Division is governed by an executive committee that has twenty-three members: president, secretary general, 1st vice president, 2nd vice president, treasurer, twelve vice presidents (two each for Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania, and one each for North America and English-speaking Caribbean), two at-large members, two athlete representatives, immediate past president, and executive director.[citation needed]

The WBSC has four departments: media, finance, tournaments, and marketing. It also has several commissions.[citation needed]

Members

WBSC Confederations

Besides its worldwide institutions, there are five regional governing bodies that oversee the game in the different continents and regions of the world.

Team Region League
 Dominican Republic Americas LIDOM
 Mexico Americas LMB
LMP
 Puerto Rico Americas LBPRC
 United States Americas AA
AABC
ABO
BRL
PONY
 Venezuela Americas LVBP
 Chinese Taipei Asia CPBL
 Japan Asia NPB
 South Korea Asia KBO
 France Europe AFBS
 Italy Europe AIBxC

In total, WBSC recognizes 198 national associations, with 132 national baseball teams as well as 122 women's national teams.[28]

Unlike the ICC, the WBSC identifies associate members as those who particularly endorse international baseball and softball with their own leagues in partnership with the WBSC. These leagues support baseball and softball to the extent that they are major sports in their respective countries. The table to the right has all leagues along with the country hosted:[29]

Presidents

No Name Country Org. Took office Left office
1 Leslie Mann  United States IBF 1938 1939
2 Jaime Mariné  Cuba 1940 1943
3 Jorge Reyes  Mexico FIBA 1944 1945
4 Pablo Morales  Venezuela 1946 1947
5 Chale Pereira  Nicaragua 1948 1950
— Pablo Morales  Venezuela 1951 1952
6 Carlos Manuel Zecca  Costa Rica 1953 1968
7 Juan Isa  Netherlands Antilles 1969 1975
— William Fehring  United States FEMBA [lower-alpha 1] 1973 1974
— Carlos García Solórzano  Nicaragua 1975
8 Manuel González Guerra  Cuba AINBA 1976 1979
— Carlos García Solórzano [lower-alpha 2]  Nicaragua 1980 1981
9 Robert Smith  United States IBAF 1981 1993
10 Aldo Notari  Italy 1993 2006
11 Harvey Schiller  United States 2007 2009
12 Riccardo Fraccari  Italy 2009 Incumbent
WBSC

[30][lower-alpha 3]

Tournaments

Current title holders

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See also: Portal:Current events/Sports, 2025 in baseball, and 2025 in sports

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For events postponed or cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, see Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on baseball.
Competition Year Host country / region Champions Title Runners-up Next edition Dates
Baseball
World Baseball Classic 2023 United States  Japan 3rd  United States 2026 Qualification:
TBD
Finals:
5–17 March 2026
WBSC Premier12 2024 Japan  Chinese Taipei 1st  Japan 2027
Olympic baseball tournament 2020 Japan  Japan 1st  United States 2028 July 2028
U-23 Baseball World Cup 2024 China Template:Bbu 3rd Template:Bbu 2026
U-18 Baseball World Cup 2023 Taiwan Template:Bbu 1st Template:Bbu 2025
U-15 Baseball World Cup 2024 Colombia Template:Bbu 3rd Template:Bbu 2026
U-12 Baseball World Cup 2023 Taiwan Template:Bbu 5th Template:Bbu 2025
Women's Baseball World Cup 2024 Canada  Japan 7th  United States 2027 2026 (group stage)
2027 (finals)
Softball
Men's Softball World Cup 2022 New Zealand  Australia 2nd  Canada 2025 12 June – 21 September 2024 (group stage)
8–13 July 2025 (finals)
U-23 Men's Softball World Cup 2023 Argentina Template:Sbu 1st Template:Sbu 2026
U-18 Men's Softball World Cup 2023 Mexico  Japan 4th  Mexico 2027
Women's Softball World Cup 2024 Canada  Japan 4th  United States 2027 2026 (group stage)
2027 (finals)
U-18 Women's Softball World Cup 2021 United States  United States 8th  Chinese Taipei 2025 2024 (group stage)
2025 (finals)
U-15 Women's Softball World Cup 2023 Japan Template:Sbwu 1st Template:Sbwu 2025
U-12 Softball World Cup 2021 Taiwan Template:Sbu 2nd Template:Sbu 2025
Olympic softball tournament 2020 Japan  Japan 2nd  United States 2028 July 2028
Baseball 5
Baseball5 World Cup 2024 Hong Kong Cuba Cuba 2nd Japan Japan 2026
Youth Baseball5 World Cup 2023 Mexico Cuba Cuba 1st France France 2025
Youth Olympic Games
First edition will be held in 2026
 2026

World Rankings

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Main article: WBSC World Rankings

Baseball5 (Coed)

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See also

Notes

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References

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External links

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