by
Riccardo Schiroli
FIBS Communications manager
In regard to the 2009 Baseball World Cup, the article signed by Pim Van Nes that was posted on Mister-Baseball.com today does not present things as they were presented on our web site.
This is the literal translation of what I wrote: Only details are missing before the 2009 World Cup is assigned to Italy. Next IBAF Executive (that will be hosted by Italy in the second half of March) will discuss it.
In (President) Fraccari’s vision the World Cup will involve Holland and 5 other European countries.
Mr Van Nes writes also about the fact Fraccari “doesn’t want to give further comments” on his statement.
What happened is that Mr Fraccari received an email by Mr Giulio Glorioso, former pitching star and president of the Lazio Baseball Association. Fraccari replied that any further comment would be given through the decisions IBAF and CEB were going to make.
Obviously, Mr Fraccari considered this response private correspondence between him and Giulio Glorioso.
Next time Mr Van Nes needs some comments from President Fraccari he had better ask directly to him or ask our Press Office to organize a meeting via phone or e mail.
On the subject of Italy playing in the next European Championship without the need of qualifying, my article may have been not clear. So I wish to make it straight: this will happen because of CEB rules and not because of any of President Fraccari’s international meetings.
As for the figures about “membership”, the ones posted in my article are official figures that were released by FIBS Secretary General, so they do not need any comment. Any other figure you find in Van Nes’ article comes out of a Thesys 2 students in Sport Management wrote at the end of their Master and cannot be considered official numbers.
On a final note, but still trying to figure the goal he has in emphasizing these numbers, I would like to point out that figures of Italian League attendance that Mr Van Nes posts (that come from the same Thesis) are correct, but are ‘regular season’ games averages. The Italian Baseball League play offs had an average attendance of 1726 in the semi finals (11 games) and the final series (7 games) had an average attendance of 4957, the highest in the history of the Italian Series that took off in 1986.
Italy just has a stick up they’re *ss because of the way they blew it in the Euro’s. Face it, you didn’t qualify!!
Now save whatever dignity you’re program has left and just work you’re way back up to the A-pool like every other country would.
Your language is kind of raw, but what you mean is perfectly clear.
There’s nothing to hide: Barcelona was the lowest Italy got in International baseball since the 1950ies. There would have been nothing humiliating in playing the qualifiers, but if the rules admit Italy to the Euros without qualifying, Italy will take the chance. And there’s nothing humiliating in this as well.