The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the international

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

for the sports of

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 ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

Baseball5 Baseball5 (B5 or BB5) is a simplified variation of baseball and softball which is governed at the international level alongside those sports by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). The game revolves around two teams of five player ...

and Blind baseball. It was established in 2013 by the merger 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 It has since been superseded by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and continues to exist as the WBSC's baseball division.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 ...

(IBAF) and

International Softball Federation Map of member states., 400px, right The International Softball Federation (ISF) is the former international governing body for the sport of softball with its world headquarters and training centre at Plant City, Florida. The ISF is a non-profit ...

(ISF). Under the WBSC's organizational structure, the IBAF and ISF serve as the confederation's baseball and softball divisions, respectively. Each division is governed by an executive committee, while the WBSC is governed by an executive board. The WBSC has 208 National Federation members in 141 countries and territories across Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania.

Professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

organizations as well as youth organizations are also included and form an arm of the WBSC as associate members. Headquartered in

Pully Pully () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Switzerland in the Vaud, canton of Vaud, located in the district of Lavaux-Oron District, Lavaux-Oron. It is one of the eastern suburbs of the city of Lausanne, located on the shores ...

, Switzerland, the WBSC was granted recognition as the sole competent global authority for both the sports of baseball and softball by 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 ...

(IOC) in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. As the recognised governing body of baseball, softball, and Baseball5, the WBSC is charged with overseeing all international competitions. It holds the exclusive rights of all competitions, tournaments and world championships featuring national teams, including the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, and WBSC-associated federations hold the right to organize and select national teams Discussions to merge the two separate world governing bodies for the sports of baseball and softball were sparked by a Memorandum of Understanding that saw baseball and softball leaders agree to form a joint bid to be added to the 2020 Olympic Games sports program. Baseball and softball were dropped from the 2012 Summer Olympic program and were scheduled to be reinstated for the 2020 Olympics, but the 2020 Olympics were delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In August 2021, the IOC announced that baseball and softball would not be part of the

2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. Baseball5 is still set to feature in the 2026 Youth Olympics.

History

Following its exclusion of baseball and softball from the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

in 2005, the IOC reclassified baseball and softball as two disciplines of the same sport. As the IOC's guidance indicated the necessity for baseball and softball to be jointly considered for reinstatement in the Olympic programme, the two independent International Federations set out on a path toward a full and complete merger. In 2012, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and the International Softball Federation (ISF) laid out the essential ground rules for partnership and began working on a constitution that would guide the merger and provide a framework for governance, ethics and operations. At a historic IBAF Congress in Tokyo in April 2013, the Constitution was ratified and since it had already been approved by an ISF working group empowered to do so, the WBSC was officially formalized and empowered. The creation of a single federation allowed for the permanent alignment, merger and management of baseball and softball at the world level. The merger resulted in an immediate boost to the governance, universality and gender equality of baseball and softball, criteria for an Olympic sport that are heavily valued by the IOC. At the first-ever World Baseball Softball Congress—in Hammamet, Tunisia—Italy's Fraccari was elected to a seven-year term as the first president of WBSC, along with a fully elected Executive Board.

Creation of Baseball5

In 2017, the WBSC introduced a third discipline to be played at an international level,

(B5), which is a five-on-five, five-

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

game designed to be played with only a rubber ball on a small field. It is targeted at underserved communities, as well as offering a low-cost and fast-paced entry point to baseball and softball in new places around the world. The WBSC introduced it to aid its ultimate goal of having a billion-strong baseball-softball community by 2030. A major difference between B5 and baseball/softball is that the game is played without a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

, with the batter starting each play with the ball. It was inspired by various Latin American street games, such as "cuatro esquinas" (''four corners'') in Cuba, and has been played in some international tournaments in the Americas and Europe, as well as having been implemented in some schools in various countries. It is due to feature in the 2026 Youth Olympic Games, and has two

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

for youth and senior players alternating each year starting in 2022, with both of these international events being played in a mixed-gender format. The WBSC is also planning to, as part of its general push into

E-Sports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

, introduce a video game version of Baseball5 in the near future.

Coed slow pitch softball

The first official WBSC Coed Slow Pitch World Cup was greenlit on 9 June 2022, during a meeting by the WBSC Executive Board in Pully, Switzerland. It was to be held in

Guadalajara, Mexico Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

in December 2023, but it was cancelled in October 2023 due to logistical challenges.

Organizational structure

The WBSC is governed by the executive board, which consists of fourteen members: president, secretary general, two vice presidents, baseball executive vice president, softball executive vice president, treasurer, four members at large, athlete representative for baseball, athlete representative for softball, and global ambassador. The Baseball Division is governed by an executive committee, which has thirteen members: president, secretary general, 2nd vice president, 3rd vice president, treasurer, three members at large, four continental vice presidents (one each for Africa, Americas, Europe, and Oceania), and executive director. The Softball Division is governed by an executive committee that has twenty-three members: president, secretary general, 1st vice president, 2nd vice president, treasurer, twelve vice presidents (two each for Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania, and one each for North America and English-speaking Caribbean), two at-large members, two athlete representatives, immediate past president, and executive director. The WBSC has four departments: media, finance, tournaments, and marketing. It also has several commissions.

Members

Besides its worldwide institutions, there are five regional governing bodies that oversee the game in the different continents and regions of the world. * WBSC Africa (28 members) *

WBSC Americas WBSC Americas, formerly known as Pan American Baseball Confederation (COPABE, Spanish: ''Confederación Panamericana de Béisbol'', Portuguese: ''Confederação Pan-Americana de Beisebol''), is the governing body of baseball and softball within ...

(58 members) *

WBSC Asia WBSC Asia, cooperated with the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA) and Softball Asia (SA), is the governing body of the sport of baseball and softball in Asia. The federation is governed by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. History Th ...

(34 members) * WBSC Europe (54 members) * WBSC Oceania (24 members) In total, WBSC recognizes 198 national associations, with 132 national baseball teams as well as 122 women's national teams. Unlike the ICC, the WBSC identifies associate members as those who particularly endorse international baseball and softball with their own leagues in partnership with the WBSC. These leagues support baseball and softball to the extent that they are major sports in their respective countries. The table to the right has all leagues along with the country hosted:

Presidents

Tournaments

Baseball

;Men's * Olympic baseball tournament *

World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC), also referred to as the Classic, is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the sport's global governing body, and organized in World Baseball Clas ...

WBSC Premier12 The WBSC Premier12 is the international baseball tournament organized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), featuring the 12 highest-ranked national baseball teams in the world. The first tournament was held by Taiwan and Japan ...

U-23 Baseball World Cup The U-23 Baseball World Cup is a biennial, professional-level, National Team, baseball world championship of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), replacing Baseball World Cup. The inaugural tournament was held in November 2014, in ...

* U-18 Baseball World Cup * U-15 Baseball World Cup *

U-12 Baseball World Cup The U-12 Baseball World Cup is the under-12 baseball world championship sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) and its predecessor the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), and is the most elite and highest level of c ...

;Women's *

Women's Baseball World Cup The Women's Baseball World Cup is an international tournament in which national women's baseball teams from around the world compete. Through its 2012 edition, it was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation; following the 2013 merger ...

Softball

;Men's * Men's Softball World Cup * U-23 Men's Softball World Cup * U-18 Men's Softball World Cup ;Women's * Olympic softball tournament *

Women's Softball World Cup The Women's Softball World Cup is a fastpitch softball tournament for women's national teams held historically every four years, now every two years, by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). The tournament, originally known as the ''I ...

* U-18 Women's Softball World Cup * U-15 Women's Softball World Cup ;Mixed * U-12 Softball World Cup

Baseball5

Summer Youth Olympics Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

* Baseball5 World Cup * Youth Baseball5 World Cup

Current title holders

World Rankings

Men's baseball

Men's softball

Women's baseball

Women's softball

Baseball5 (Coed)

Notes

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = background:#15243e; color:#D4AF37; {{box-shadow border, a, #FF0000, 2px , list= {{World Baseball Classic {{International Baseball {{International softball {{International Sports Federations Baseball in Switzerland Bas Organisations based in Lausanne Softball in Switzerland Softball governing bodies Sports organizations established in 2013

Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations 2013 establishments in Switzerland