by Riccardo Schiroli
“Baseball is the game that accomplished one of the greatest goals in sports diplomacy. I don’t believe any other sport has seen so many games played between Team USA and Cuba”. The Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Italy Franco Frattini is a proud member of the Promoters’ Committee of the 2009 IBAF World Cup in Italy. He announced that during a press conference at Villa Madama in Rome Thursday November 13.
“My goal is creating a Board of the Ambassadors of the countries participating in the World Cup” said Frattini “We will talk about it with the International Federation”
Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa (“I discovered baseball in the 1960ies through ‘Peanuts’ and then I played a bit at College. But I was no good” said La Russa) and Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo are members of the same Committee.
“This is a green event” said Prestigiacomo “And my office is working to guarantee that the protocol proposed by the International Federation is fully respected here in Italy”.
Rocco Crimi is an Under Secretary in the Berlusconi Cabinet and is in charge of sports: “We are working hard to locate a site where we can build the new ball park. We have a chance to have in Rome the most modern baseball stadium in Europe, because Major League Baseball is supporting the idea” said Crimi.
Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) President Gianni Petrucci congratulated Italian Federation (FIBS) President Riccardo Fraccari: “To have four members of the Government on board is a great achievement” said Petrucci “It makes me feel confident that baseball has a great chance to be reinstated in the Olympic program”.
Before answering questions from the press, all of four Government Officials took pictures wearing Team Italy’s dugout jacket.
Pictures: © FIBS
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November 13, 2008 | 9:55 pm
[...] ‘Promoters’ Committee’ for the World Cup contains four government officials, a figure very unlikely to be matched if Britain had been playing a major hosting role in the [...]