BELGRADE & PANAMA CITY – WBSC’s continental baseball and softball bodies recently elected new leaders.
In Panama City, Dominican Republic’s Tito Pereyra was unanimously elected president of the 29-nation Pan Am Baseball Confederation (Copabe), and will replace Nicaragua’s Nemesio Porras on the executive committee of the WBSC Baseball Division. Pereyra stated the Pan-Am youth continental championships (WBSC Baseball World Cup qualifiers) have enormous commercial and broadcast potential. (See full Pan-Am Baseball Executive Committee)
In Serbia, elections were held at the joint baseball softball congress.
The 40-nation Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) unanimously elected Didier Seminet (FRA) as president, while the 37-nation European Softball Federation (ESF) unanimously elected Gabriel Waage (CZE) as president. (See full CEB Executive Board / ESF Executive Board)
The previous CEB and ESF presidents, Jan Esselman and Andre van Overbeek were recognised for their past service in European baseball and softball.
Seminet will replace Esselman on the executive committee of the WBSC Baseball Division. Seminet has led the French Baseball and Softball Federation since 2010 and the Francophone Baseball & Softball Association since 2014.
Waage has been a Czech Softball Association Executive Council member since its founding in 1993 and president since 2002. He is currently member of the Czech National Olympic Committee Executive Board, and a member of the NOC Foreign Relations Committee. Waage is also a member of the WBSC Softball Competition Commission.
The CEB/ESF joint Congress was attended by WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari, WBSC Treasurer Angelo Vicini, and Serbia Sports Minister Vanja Udovicic.
The 2018 joint CEB-ESF Congress will be held in Paris, France on February 10, 2018.
