Following the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) announcement that the shortlist for reinstatement in the Olympics will consist of only two sports, Don Porter, International Softball Federation President, said in a press release he has pledged to re-double his efforts.
Porter said, “while the decision to cut the list to only two sports for a vote by 115 IOC members was a surprise, it has not deflected the commitment behind, and focus of our campaign. If anything it has given us further incentive to work even harder at communicating the incredible value that softball offers the Olympic Movement. We are greatly encouraged by the way IOC members are reacting to how softball would help the Olympic Movement open up women’s sport – especially in Muslim countries; they also like our global focus on youth and our 100 per cent doping-free track record.
“But most of all, IOC members appreciate that the Olympic Games would be the absolute pinnacle of our international competition structure; the whole softball calendar would peak every quadrennial with the Olympic Games. While I cannot comment on other sports, I can tell you that the Olympic Games would not be just another competition in an over-crowded calendar for softball. For millions of softball players around the world the Olympic Games would be the greatest honour and we guarantee that the world’s best softball athletes would all commit to performing at the Olympic Games”.
The BackSoftball Campaign has travelled to its fifth continent in a month with a presentation to the Oceania National Olympic Annual Assembly Tuesday in Queenstown, New Zealand.
