World Baseball Federation to push interest in the sport ahead of its 2020 Olympic return

Record ID: 876878

  • Title: World Baseball Federation to push interest in the sport ahead of its 2020 Olympic return
  • Date: 25th May 2017
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (MAY 25, 2017) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** GENERAL VIEW OF MEETING BETWEEN PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD BASEBALL CONFEDERATION, RICARDO FRACCARI, AND PRESIDENT OF THE CUBAN NATIONAL SPORTS INSTITUTE, ANTONIO BECALI FRACCARI DURING CONVERSATIONS BECALI DURING CONVERSATIONS FRACCARI ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD BASEBALL CONFEDERATION, RICARDO FRACCARI, SAYING: "(One of the motives of the tour) is to analyse with the different federations and professional organisations, a topic which in my opinion is fairly critical at this moment, which is to create strong interest among youngsters in baseball and softball, it is not a secret that in many baseball-playing countries, including Cuba, soccer is advancing a lot." CUBAN BASEBALL AUTHORITIES WATCHING NEWS CONFERENCE, PAINTING OF CHE GUEVARA IN BACKGROUND CUBAN REVOLUTIONARY LEADER FIDEL CASTRO'S SON, ANTONIO CASTRO, AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD BASEBALL CONFEDERATION, RICARDO FRACCARI, SAYING: "I would never ask the large leagues to suspend an event but to free up their players, yes. So, once we know the exact format of the Olympics, the time, the duration, then we can start a more serious discussion. But I think it will be positive." GENERAL VIEW OF PLAYERS TRAINING AT LATIN AMERICAN STADIUM PLAYER CATCHING AND THROWING BALL PLAYER THROWING BALL
  • Embargoed: 8th June 2017 22:31
  • Keywords: Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 baseball Cuba Ricardo Fraccari
  • Location: HAVANA, CUBA
  • City: HAVANA, CUBA
  • Country: Cuba
  • Topics: Baseball,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016IC8KZN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: World baseball authorities on Thursday (May 25) expressed the need to increase dwindling global interest in the sport ahead of its return to the Olympic Games at Tokyo 2020.
    The President of the World Baseball and Softball Confederation, Ricardo Fraccari, spoke in the baseball-proud nation of Cuba at the end of a tour through China, South Korea and the Dominican Republic.
    Fraccari said interest in the sport, which along with softball will be included in the next Olympics Games, had waned, overshadowed by global interest in soccer.
    He said he would not ask important leagues to change their course because of the Olympics, but said he would call on teams to free up some of their players. He said such steps would be advanced, however, when the exact format and timeframe of the Olympics were revealed.
    Baseball became an official Olympics sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics, and was last played at Beijing 2008, when South Korea took Gold.
    Cuba became a powerhouse in amateur international baseball, winning three Olympic gold medals and two silvers in the five times it was an official Olympic sport from 1992 to 2008.
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