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The European Softball Federation (ESF), the regional governing body for the sport, is setting up an Olympic Softball Evaluation Commission to analyse softball’s chances for future reinstatement to the Olympic Games.
Women’s softball was an Olympic medal sport from the 1996 Games in Atlanta through to the Beijing Olympics in 2008, but was dropped from the programme for London 2012 on a tied vote of International Olympic Committee members in 2005.
In 2009 softball was rejected for the 2016 Games in Rio when the IOC chose to add rugby sevens and golf to the programme. The 2009 disappointment came after four-year campaign run by the International Softball Federation (ISF), titled BackSoftball, which tried to demonstrate the global reach of the sport.
“The launching of this evaluating commission is a big step forward in understanding the reasons why the IOC dropped softball from the Olympic programme and why our Backsoftball campaign didn’t gave us the results we hoped for,” said ESF President Andre van Overbeek. “This commission will also make recommendations how to continue with our future efforts for reinstatement and keep the Olympic dream alive for all players around the world.”
The Olympic Softball Evaluation Commission will be made up of five members representing national softball federations in Europe, and appointments are expected in the next two weeks. The Commission will complete its work by the summer of 2011 with the submission of a report that will be sent to the ISF and circulated to national federations in Europe and around the world.
The Commission will also consider how the sport can continue to develop worldwide should Olympic status not be regained.