HAMMAMET, Tunisia (AP) - Italy’s Riccardo Fraccari has been elected to a seven-year term as the first president of the new World Baseball Softball Confederation.
The 64-year-old Fraccari had served as interim president with softball partner Don Porter when the two sports joined forces in 2012 to aid their bid for Olympic reinstatement.
Porter is stepping down after more than 40 years in the softball movement.
Beginning in 2021, voting will take place every four years, and always in the year following Summer Olympics.
The last time baseball and softball were played at the Olympics was at the 2008 Beijing Games. Both were dropped from the 2012 program in a 2005 vote then again failed to get in last year.
Fraccari has led the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) since 2009.
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