The presidents of the International Baseball Federation (IBF) and the International Softball Federation (ISF) are scheduled to meet Thursday in Orlando Florida to discuss baseball’s idea to submit a joint bid with softball to gain reinstatement for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
The Associated Press reports Don Porter saying Wednesday that while he’ll listen to what baseball has to say, a joint bid is less than likely to happen, “because we have to find some assurance – more than there is now – that it would be more than helpful for us to regain our Olympic status.
“There’s always a possibility, but it’s a matter of where our discussion leads to. We’re in a fight for our lives for our sport. We’ll see where they’re coming from”, he said.
IBAF president Harvey Schiller said in a separate interview Wednesday that the two sports would help each other get added to the 2016 program. He said the move also would let the International Olympic Committee (IOC) accommodate three of the sports bidding, rather than two.
Several baseball federations, including those of Japan, Europe and Africa, have written to the IBAF supporting the idea, said Schiller.
According to the Associated Press Porter said last year that softball needed to “keep our distance from baseball so we’re not tied to them”.
But Porter said Wednesday, “it’s nothing negative against baseball. It’s just we have our own direction we want to take our sport”.
