WBSC appoints Kenyon & Kenyon’s Colbert as General Counsel, Cuba’s Castro as Global Ambassador

Press Release World Baseball Softball Confederation

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The WBSC, baseball and softball’s world ruling body, at its executive meeting in the Olympic Capital this past Saturday, appointed Edward Colbert of the Washington D.C.-based law firm Kenyon & Kenyon as WBSC General Counsel and Dr. Antonio Castro as WBSC Global Ambassador.

Colbert, a partner at Kenyon & Kenyon, considered by Fortune 500 companies as one of the most elite intellectual property law firms in the world, has significant experience in international intellectual property licensing and acquisitions, and manages the trademark portfolios of leading retailers, companies and organizations worldwide.

Colbert helped create and shape the United States Olympic Committee licensing program and was involved in the licensing and enforcement of Olympic marketing rights in the United States and certain related global rights for the U.S. Olympic teams. He serves as an arbitrator on the International Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne and for the American Arbitration Association.

WBSC Global Ambassador Castro, who has been a strong advocate of sports diplomacy and baseball and softball’s bid to return to the Olympic stage, has served as an executive committee member of the International Baseball Federation since 2009 and will have an expanded role within the WBSC, particularly as the geopolitical landscape evolves, and will have a seat (without vote) on the WBSC Executive Board.

Castro, who was present for WBSC’s meetings in Lausanne, was also a member of WBSC’s official presenting team in which baseball and softball finished second in voting — only behind wrestling — for a place in the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games, a vote that took place at the International Olympic Committee session in Buenos Aires, Argentina in September 2013.

The WBSC Executive Committee also appointed Italy’s Vincenzo La Rocca as a member of the WBSC Legal Commission. La Rocca oversaw legal proceedings at the first-ever WBSC Congress last year, which formalised the historic union of baseball’s and softball’s two independent international sport federations.

Castro, Colbert and La Rocca will assume their positions within the WBSC leadership immediately.