Press Release International Baseball Federation, www.ibaf.org
STATEMENT FROM IBAF PRESIDENT DR. HARVEY SCHILLER FOLLOWING THE SELECTION OF RIO AS THE HOST CITY FOR THE 2016 SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES
“We want to congratulate Rio and the IOC on today’s selection. As the ‘National Pastime’ of so many Latin American countries, the upside from a grassroots, brand and marketing perspective to have baseball in the 2016 games grows exponentially now, and we will remain steadfast in our belief, despite the IOC’s announcement in August, that baseball should now be strongly reconsidered for re-admission to the programme in 2016. Baseball is growing quickly in Brazil and there is no sport that could bring more attention, marketing assistance and consistent exposure over the next seven years as a partner to the Olympic Games. We are hopeful that the efforts of the IBAF, along with our partners at MLB and COPABE, and the support we have gotten from the Organization of American States, will be revisited in the coming days. Baseball has done all that was asked, and will do whatever is necessary to both be included and be the best Olympic partner of any sport.”