IBAF President Riccardo Fraccari sent out a presidential address to the national federations, opening the baseball year 2011.
More than a year has passed since the election, thus, I feel it is necessary to summarize the work carried out and the main initiatives realized during this period and also to express my thoughts on the decisions we are planning to take in the future.
.
The first 12 months under our administration have been devoted mainly to:
- Clarifying the organizational situation of our Federation
- Uncovering the economic situation to determine the starting point from which to hold ourselves accountable to our members federations
- Reorganizing the direction of the Federation to improve its operations
- Implementing immediate drastic spending cuts
- Maintaining a high number of contacts with the aim of securing financial contributions for the IBAF.
- Evaluating and mapping out the return to the Olympic Program.
- Organizing and following the course of the tournaments that have already been previously scheduled and allocated (AAA Championship in Canada and Women’s Baseball World Cup in Venezuela.).
As reported in the last IBAF Congress held in Lausanne in December 2009, the first point to be addressed by the new Executive Committee was the reorganization of the IBAF staff duties and responsibilities. The IBAF had at that time 10 employees in Lausanne and 5 in New York; the staff now has been reduced to 7 employees, one part-time, with each employee having been assigned concrete and specific functions, which had been absent in previous years. This reorganization is to ensure an effective and efficient organizational structure that is tailored to the needs of our members.
.
From an economic point of view, drastic spending cuts were made, thus eliminating the unnecessary expenditures, while monitoring each existing and new expense carefully. Nevertheless, we managed to hold three meetings of the Executive Committee, thanks to the cooperation and economic aid offered by the National Federations of Italy, Puerto Rico and Chinese Taipei, all of which hosted the said meetings, thereby offsetting the associated organizational expenses of these important encounters.
.
The number of meetings of the Executive Committee during this first year has been a clear demonstration of the need to involve all members in the reconstruction and reorganization of our Federation. Transparency in management and participation of members of the Executive Committee in decision-making is something I want to particularly maintain and encourage.
.
At the last meeting, held in Taichung (Chinese Taipei), various members of the respective IBAF Commissions were appointed, but this was done only after completing a process of identifying candidates (without taking into account the country of origin) that were available and competent to undertake the responsibilities that would be entrusted to each of them.
.
We addressed the tasks of “communication” and “visibility” by completely updating the IBAF website, which has still not yet completed due to the great amount of work involved in this project and the lack of personnel that was able to be dedicated to this end. I feel it necessary to note that one reason, certainly not secondary, that prevented the complete realization of this medium was, and still is, the lack of cooperation offered by our National Member Federations, many of which do not respond to our requests to provide us with their pertinent data and information.
.
The limited cooperation received by IBAF from the National Federations reflects not only the lack of organization of our Federation, but also the customary lack of practice for National Federations to participate in the life of the IBAF, which I think is the most serious and worrying issue that we have to confront together and change. We need to make our institution more responsive to the needs of the National Federations through development programs that will involve them directly. This is a challenge that we must win because the IBAF will be strong only if its members are strong, and we will need to commit financial and human resources to accomplish this.
.
Looking to the future and at the things to be done, we know all too well that every plan, project or initiative faces the harsh reality of the need for resources. We cannot pretend not to know the very serious economic situation in which the IBAF now finds itself. Not only should we be concerned with the resources that have been squandered in recent years, but also the lack of revenue currently being generated, which stems from lack of contribution funds from the IOC due to our sport’s exclusion from the Olympic Games. To get a better sense of this, we need to look no further than the last IBAF financial audit that was carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The PWC report shows that the revenue of the IBAF went from about $ 11,770,000 in 2008 to approximately $ 3,487,000 in 2009, all the while expenses having remained virtually unchanged.
.
I thought long and hard about our financial situation, discussing and meeting repeatedly with all organizations of professional baseball (NPB, KBO, CPBL & MLB). From these meetings came a proposal for an agreement with MLB on a few tournaments, which will not only provide the resources needed to IBAF, but also promotes the economic position of federations taking part in these tournaments, as well as providing substantial assistance and a great development opportunity for our global baseball movement—all this without compromising our autonomy.
.
Despite the lack of economic resources, we managed to have the first installment of baseball equipment shipped to an initial block of countries in an effort to promote much needed baseball development across the various continents, and subsequent shipments to other countries will soon follow.
.
In addition, a comprehensive development program is currently being studied and will be further discussed once the precise resources available for this project have been calculated. The scope of this program will expand beyond the donation of equipment, including technical assistance and training of coaches, players, umpires, scorers and technical commissioners, as well as staging clinics and training courses for the planning/design, construction and maintenance of baseball fields.
.
In the very near future, we will have to turn our attention toward the revision of our statutes and regulations, in order to render our continental confederations more efficient and modern. As has been repeatedly pointed out, these organizations will increasingly become the “engine” of development and become the true continental bodies of the IBAF. To move toward the accomplishment of this endeavor, we expect to have help and strong support from all of you.
.
In 2011, we will celebrate and organize our Congress. During this occasion, all of us together will be able to analyze the work carried out, and for this reason, we would like to organize this meeting in a different way, giving more room for moments of open debate and discussion, so that each of you can have the opportunity to put forth your ideas and thoughts, thereby enriching not only our meetings, but also our very own Executive Committee and the institution we are all here to represent, the IBAF. It is fairly evident that the work and tasks that awaits us will not be easily dealt with, but with the teamwork, transparency and collegiality that we have exhibited within the Executive Committee, I do believe we will be able to find solutions to the many problems we face.
.
Another major issue to be addressed is that of returning to the Olympic program. We urgently need to define a concrete and definitive strategy to be adopted. There is no time to waste since 2013 is fast approaching us, and it is in this year that the IOC will vote to establish the sports on the Olympic Program for 2020. Again, this is critical work and asks a commitment from each of you to contact as many IOC members as possible in your respective continents, of course, always maintaining the objectives and vision of our global project.
.
Before concluding, I would say that although the IBAF looks to the future, we should not forget the recent past, which has proven utterly disastrous for this Federation, and in this regard, we have examined (and we are continuing to investigate) the responsibilities of the former Secretary General/Executive Director, Mr. John Ostermeyer, whose management, especially from the economic point of view, must constitute one of the most severe episodes ever experienced in the history of this Federation, which has led the IBAF to the brink of bankruptcy, as noted by the PWC audit. Despite the difficulties in carrying out this investigation, I confirm to you that we are making every effort to assign the responsibility accordingly. Furthermore, we are taking measures to ensure that something like this shall never be repeated.
.
I shall conclude this message by asking for your understanding during the difficult times in which we are living, and once again, I ask for your cooperation and unity, so we can return to being a strong sport run by a strong Federation.
.
In my name personally, and on behalf of the entire IBAF Executive Committee and staff, I would like to wish all of you a successful 2011
.
Riccardo Fraccari
President, IBAF