World Baseball Softball Confederation

Following its exclusion of baseball and softball from the Summer Olympics in 2005,^[5] the IOC reclassified baseball and softball as two disciplines of the same sport.^[6] 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.^[7] 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.^[8]

In 2017,^[9] 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,^[10] as well as offering a low-cost and fast-paced entry point to baseball and softball in new places around the world.^[11] The WBSC introduced it to aid its ultimate goal of having a billion-strong baseball-softball community by 2030.^[12] 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.^[13] It was inspired by various Latin American street games, such as "cuatro esquinas" (four corners) in Cuba,^[14] and has been played in some international tournaments in the Americas and Europe,^[15][11][16] as well as having been implemented in some schools in various countries.^[17][18] It is due to feature in the 2026 Youth Olympic Games,^[19] 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.^[20] 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.^[21]

The first official WBSC Coed Slow Pitch World Cup would be greenlit on 9 June during a meeting by the WBSC Executive Board in Pully, Switzerland.^[22][23] It was to be held in Guadalajara, Mexico in December 2023,^[24] but it was cancelled in October 2023 due to logistical challenges.^[25]

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.^[26]

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]}

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

• WBSC Africa (28 members)
• WBSC Americas (58 members)
• WBSC Asia (34 members)
• WBSC Europe (54 members)
• WBSC Oceania (24 members)

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

In total, WBSC recognizes 198 national associations, with 132 national baseball teams as well as 122 women's national teams.^[27]

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:^[28]

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 [a]	1973	1974
—	Carlos García Solórzano	Nicaragua		1975
8	Manuel González Guerra	Cuba	AINBA	1976	1979
—	Carlos García Solórzano [b]	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

^[29][c]

• Baseball awards § International
• Softball at the Summer Olympics
• Baseball at the Summer Olympics

• Official website