Juan Isa (August 26, 1913 — October 19, 1993) was a Venezuelan-born Dutch Antillean

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

executive, administrator, and businessman. He was president of the

International Baseball Federation The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) is the former international governing body of baseball. It has since been superseded by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and continues to exist as the WBSC's baseball division. Betwee ...

(FIBA) from 1969 to 1976. Isa also co-founded the

Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee The Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee, (; ) generally abbreviated NAOC was a member of the IOC from 1950 to 2011. It constituted the National Olympic Committee of the dissolved country Netherlands Antilles which consisted of the islands Arub ...

, and was inducted into the Curaçao Olympic Hall of Fame.

Business career

Isa was a major business magnate in Curaçao, where he owned a bakery in Curaçao, which opened in 1932, as well as an electronics and hardware store. He also owned an

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile (formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors) was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produc ...

car dealership on the island.

FIBA presidency

Isa's candidacy for the FIBA presidency was supported by Venezuela. He expanded FIBA's reach to include Europe, inviting

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

to the

1970 Amateur World Series The 1970 Amateur World Series was held in Cartagena, Colombia from November 18 through December 4, 1970. It was the first Amateur World Series in over 30 years to feature a European team and was the first to include two European teams, in the for ...

. He also met with Lord Killanin, president of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

, in an attempt to include baseball in the program of the Olympic Games. During his term as head of FIBA, the organization was rocked by several controversies, such as Isa's decision to allow Dutch Antillean players from

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

and

Aruba Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...

to represent the Netherlands in international competition, despite the objections of the Italian federation. Isa was criticized for centralizing control of the organization, as well as the arbitrary removal of Nicaragua from hosting the

1973 Amateur World Series Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

. Tensions came to a head at the 1973 FIBA Congress, held in Curaçao, where Isa refused to hold elections. After that, several national federations, including Italy, Nicaragua, and the United States, left FIBA to form FEMBA (), causing a split in the international baseball world. The FEMBA-FIBA split was resolved in 1976 thanks to the mediation of

Mexican Olympic Committee The Mexican Olympic Committee () (COM) is the organization that represents Mexican athletes in the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Pan American Games and the Central American and Caribbean Games. It was created and formally recognized ...

president

Mario Vázquez Raña Mario Vázquez Raña (June 7, 1932 - February 8, 2015) was a Mexican businessman and sports administrator, who served on both national and Olympic committees. He served as a member of the executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

; FIBA was reorganized as AINBA (), with

Manuel González Guerra Manuel Ricardo González Guerra (April 25, 1914April 18, 1997) was a Cuban baseball executive and president of the International Baseball Federation (then known as the ''Asociación Internacional de Béisbol Amateur'', or AINBA) from 1976 to 1980 ...

elected president and

Carlos García Solórzano Carlos José García Solórzano Torrealba (April 30, 1931 — September 18, 2014) was a Nicaraguan baseball executive and promoter. He was twice elected president of international baseball, first at the head of FEMBA, a short-lived breakaway gro ...

vice president.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Isa, Juan 1913 births 1993 deaths International baseball executives Baseball in the Netherlands Sport in Curaçao Sportspeople from the Dutch Caribbean Curaçao people of Venezuelan descent World Baseball Softball Confederation