The 26th IBAF Congress, which was held on Saturday in Dallas, Texas is in the books. In difference to previous editions, coverage on the IBAF website was extensive to give you a lot of reading material about the state of International Baseball.
The IBAF Congress started with a meeting of the Executive Committee: “IBAF Executive meets in Dallas”.
Riccardo Schiroli wrote a book about the history of the International Baseball Federation, which was presented in Dallas. “The game we love”
The Executive Committee received a new member with Jorge Otsuka from Brazil, who is the new Continental Vice President for the Americas after the COPABE Elections. “Israel Roldan is new President of COPABE”
We already posted it on the website: Major League Baseball introduced the 2013 World Baseball Classic to the delegates. The long anticipated announcement on the qualifiers now apparently will be delivered in January. The winners of the WBC will be called “World Champion” for the first time. “MLB introduces World Baseball Classic to Delegates”
On Friday also a couple of commissions gathered for meetings, including development and tournament commissions. “Friday was the day of the Commissions in Dallas”
The actual IBAF Congress on Saturday started with a strong commitment by Baseball towards a joint Olympic Reinstatement campaign with Softball. An agreement will be signed by both executives hopefully soon. “The Congress opened in Dallas”
IBAF also announced the ban of former secretary general John Ostermeyer. “Lifetime Ban on John Ostermeyer”
IBAF President Riccardo Fraccari addressed various topics in his speech to the delegates. “Together we can”
And finally IBAF announced and approved changes to the International Calendar. The Baseball World Cup will be gone with the World Baseball Classic taking over. There also will be Women’s World Cup, 21U, 18U (will become 18U World Baseball Classic), 15U (formerly 16U), 12U (all every other year) and a Premier 12 (every four years) competition. The transformation will happen until 2015. Additionally the IBAF Statues were altered. “IBAF Congress approves new Format of International Tournaments”
And last but not least, the awards for 2010 and 2011 were announced and handed out. From Europe the Dutch National Team collected more trophies, as head coach Brian Farley and MVP Curt Smith were honored. “IBAF Awards presented at Gala Dinner in Arlington”