ISF rejects offer by IBAF for joint Olympic bid

Universal Sports
February 27, 2009
By Dave Ungrady

There will be no joint bid between softball and baseball for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Softball's international federation today announced that it has turned down a request from the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) to submit a joint bid to the International Olympic Committee and instead has requested the addition of a men's competition at the Olympics.

"We feel we're a separate independent sport and we don't want to show there's any connection with us and baseball," International Softball Federation President (ISF) Don Porter said in a phone interview. "And our men's program is something we're trying to more fully develop. To combine with any sport is probably not the best way to develop our sport overall."

The ISF included the request to add men's softball in its official proposal submitted earlier this month to the IOC and first mentioned it to the Committee in November.

International Baseball Federation President Harvey Schiller, a former Executive Director of the U.S. Olympic Committee, earlier this year suggested a joint bid with the ISF, hoping it would improve the chance that both sports would return to the Games. He and Porter met for two hours Thursday over what both described was a cordial dinner to discuss the issue.

"We discussed a whole range of issues, including financial," Schiller said by phone. "I tried to ally his fears that we can be supportive. I'm disappointed on behalf of the several million people in baseball who wanted this to happen."

The ISF recently instructed any national softball federation that is combined with a national federation of any other sport to become fully independent. "Many of our board members when they talked to me said it’s important to be on an independent basis," Porter said.

Schiller said he has received letters, email and calls from baseball and international federations in China and Hong Kong as well as countries in Latin America supporting a joint bid.

"The group it will hurt is softball," he said. "Combined federations across Europe, Africa and other places have felt because of financial resources that softball would be hurt."

Schiller feels a failed joint bid would not hurt baseball’s efforts to rejoin the Olympics. "Baseball is a global sport and will continue to grow," he said. "If you look at the four candidate cities for 2016, baseball is the national pastime in Chicago and Tokyo. There are strong baseball programs in Barcelona. And everyone, including Rio de Janeiro, have operational sites."

Schiller expressed surprise when told that the ISF included a men's component to its Olympic bid. "(Porter) never brought that up (at the dinner)," Schiller said.

The IOC will announce in October which two sports will be added to the 2016 Summer Games.