The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) was today confirmed as a permanent Associate Member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) at the organisation’s 47th General Assembly held in a hybrid format in Lausanne, Switzerland.
ASOIF serves as the umbrella organisation for the International Federations (IFs) governing sports featured at the Summer Olympic Games.
The WBSC’s membership follows a change to the ASOIF Statutes approved at last year’s 46th General Assembly, whereby IFs can apply for associate membership if they have been included in the Olympic programme for any five editions of the Games since 1988. Baseball and softball have now featured at six and five editions of the Games, respectively, with the latest being the sport’s celebrated Olympic return at Tokyo 2020.
Founded in 1983, ASOIF marked its 40th anniversary yesterday. As part of the celebrations, ASOIF released a new publication titled 40 Years of ASOIF 1983-2023, in which baseball and softball feature having been an Associate Member from 1992-2008 and from 2017.
WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari said:
“It is an honour for the WBSC to be approved as an Associate Member of ASOIF. I would like to thank ASOIF and the Summer Olympic Federation family for its support during baseball and softball’s highly successful return to the Olympic Games, and its ongoing support of our sports.
“The WBSC has been tireless in its efforts to strengthen collaboration with the IOC and ASOIF and to be a reliable partner to the Olympic Movement. I can say with certainty that today’s decision further fuels the baseball and softball community’s goal to become a regular fixture on the Olympic programme.”
