Kruno Karin elected to lead WBSC Europe into new era

Kruno Karin elected to lead WBSC Europe into new era
12/02/2022
The election of the Executive Board until 2026 follows the historic decision at the WBSC Europe Extraordinary Congress in November where a new WBSC Europe Constitution was approved.

World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Europe Secretary General Kruno Karin (CRO) was elected president of the organisation, winning 44-26 against Italian Baseball & Softball Federation president Andrea Marcon, during the 2022 WBSC Europe Congress in the Austria Trend Hotel in Ljubljana, Slovenia on Saturday.

Karin, 60, previously held the position of WBSC Europe Secretary General since 2017 and the European Baseball Confederation since 2012.

The election of the Executive Board until 2026 follows the historic decision at the WBSC Europe Extraordinary Congress in November where European Baseball & Softball leaders approved a new WBSC Europe Constitution, which included dissolving the baseball (CEB) and softball (ESF) continental bodies.

WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari addressed the Congress and said this new era for WBSC Europe is an important step in increasing baseball and softball practitioners, fans, media attention and sponsors in the continent.

“Today, with the election of the leadership of the WBSC Europe, we come to the conclusion of a long journey that started in Rome on November 19, 2021 sanctioning the unification, on a continental level, of the bodies that regulated our wonderful disciplines: baseball and softball.

“This unification in a single continental "governing body" represents not only a new way of managing our tournaments, but above all, it will stimulate a new way of working together for the benefit of our sport.

“The WBSC will be at your side, as it is with all other continents, jointly developing concrete initiatives that give added value to European competitions making them more attractive for all practitioners.”

Karin, who thanked his wife for her support, said the new WBSC Executive Board will welcome contributions from all members.

“We can be united only if we work together, we are here because we love the greatest game in the world. This year we will have 31 European tournaments and more than 300 teams participating in 15 countries around Europe and this is who we are. We need to work on the other parts as well to be more visible to increase our financial standing and help more countries participate but we have to do it in small steps.”

New WBSC Europe Executive Board

  • President - Kruno Karin (CRO)
  • Vice President for Baseball - Petr Ditrich (CZE)
  • Vice President for Softball - Gabriel Waage (CZE)
  • Secretary General - Ami Baran (ISR)
  • Treasurer – Eddy Van Straelen (BEL)

Baseball Members at Large

  • Francois Collet (FRA)
  • Juergen Elsishans (GER)
  • Virmidas Neverauskas (LTU)

Softball Members at Large

  • Youri Alkalay (BUL)
  • Mette Nissen-Jakobsen (DEN)
  • Kristian Palvia (SWE)

The vote for the two athletes' representatives is expected to take place at the first baseball and softball events of the year.