BELGRADE — Leaders of the Serbian National Olympic Committee (SNOC) and the Serbian Baseball Federation (SBF) met to discuss the nation’s Olympic baseball strategic-plan.
A formal decision was taken by the SNOC to support SBF in response to baseball and softball’s upcoming return as an Olympic sport in 2020.
National Olympic Committees each get one sport to propose for Olympic Solidarity funds, which are granted by the International Olympic Committee.
If the proposal is accepted by the IOC, the Olympic Solidarity funds will go toward coaching instruction and athlete development ahead of Olympic qualifying events.
The Serbian National Baseball Team is currently No. 51 in the WBSC World Rankings, while the nation is No. 28 in softball.
The Serbian Men’s National Baseball Team won the 2016 CEB European Championship “C” pool in Ljubljana, Slovenia, advancing to the best 24 European baseball nations.
Men’s baseball and women’s softball events were added to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic programme by the International Olympic Committee last August, resulting in countries activating plans to support their national baseball and softball programmes for the 2017-2020 Olympic cycle.
WBSC has been encouraging its National Federations to seek the support of their respective National Olympic Committees by leveraging Olympic Solidarity funds.
