Last weekend the Italian Baseball and Softball Federation (FIBS) with president Riccardo Fraccari and vice president Massimo Fochi invited the seven current IBL teams to a meeting at the CONI center in Tirrenia to discuss next year’s setup of the Italian Baseball League.
The IBL is going to enter the 2017 with a format, which includes two games per game day during the regular season. Games can be scheduled from Thursday to Sunday. Additionally umpires per game will be reduced from three to two to further reduce the costs for the IBL teams. Seven non-foreign players are supposed to be on the field at all times. Four foreign players can be signed during the season, while three are allowed to be on the field per game.
Vice president Fochi also presented a plan to play the Coppa Italia prior to the Italian Baseball League with the winner qualifying for the European Cup. President Fraccari gets quoted on the FIBS website that he would like to see Italian Baseball as locomotive for development.
Further details about the Italian Baseball League will be announced after teams have subscribed for the 2017 season.