The European Softball Federation has appointed the Italian Andrea Marcon as Director of Umpires. He will in charge of currently 112 umpires, trying to assign them to the 11 or 12 European competitions each year, while maintaining a high quality level. He seeks cooperation of Italy, Netherlands and Czech Republic, where the level of play is better due to the amount of games. The ESF hopes to strengthen the position of the Director of Umpires with the appointment of Marcon.