September 8, 2013
Baseball Denied Olympic Bid Once Again
Baseball and softball finished a distant second in voting by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) members Sunday, Sept. 8 to be reinstated as an official Olympic Sport.
Wrestling, which was dropped from the Olympics last February by the 15-person IOC Executive Board amid a huge uproar, was voted back in after receiving 49 of the 95 votes cast.
The joint bid of baseball/softball was second with 24 votes while squash received 22.
Because of the winning vote, wrestling is now assured of appearing at both the 2020 and the 2024 Summer Olympics.
For baseball/softball, which had among others Antonio Castro, the son of the long-time Cuban leader Fidel in their presentation team, it represents another blow after being voted out of the Olympics beginning with the 2012 London summer games.
USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO, Paul Seiler, issued the following statement regarding the vote:
“While we are obviously disappointed with the decision of the International Olympic Committee to not move forward with baseball and softball for inclusion on the Olympic program in 2020, we continue to believe the combined efforts of baseball and softball provide a great platform for international competition and we look forward to continuing our joint efforts of growing baseball and softball worldwide.
“USA Baseball will continue to promote baseball and softball both internationally and domestically through our various initiatives, and we look forward to the opportunity to return to the Olympic program in the future.
“In the meantime, we want to thank our partners and fans for their support of our joint efforts.”
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