FISU boosts baseball and softball through key agreement

The International University Sports Federation and the sport’s governing body signed a four-year Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday to expand both globally by encouraging national federations to include them in their programmes and calendars.

The collaboration takes immediate effect following a meeting between the two organisations at FISU headquarters in Lausanne. Various officials took part in the meeting, led by FISU President Leonz Eder and World Baseball Softball Confederation President Riccardo Fraccari.

“This agreement marks a significant milestone in FISU’s commitment to providing unique sporting opportunities for student-athletes worldwide,” said Eder.

He highlighted the importance of both sports on university campuses and announced they will feature in the programme for the FISU World University Games in North Carolina in 2029. For Eder, the ongoing cooperation “further expands opportunities to enhance the global reach of university sport”.

As part of the MoU, FISU will encourage its member federations and the organising committees of its competitions to include baseball and softball in their programmes, capitalising on the increasing popularity of these sports among young athletes worldwide. The agreement also opens the door to the future inclusion of Baseball5 in the World University Games and University Beach Games.

Fraccari emphasised that the agreement creates “new opportunities for student-athletes to compete, develop and represent our sport internationally, complementing the youth tournaments we already organise”. The WBSC president also noted that his organisation shares values with FISU and that the agreement will help to promote these values, including “education, inclusion and international exchange through sport”.

The WBSC will support the inclusion of FISU competitions featuring baseball and softball in its official calendar, thereby increasing the international visibility of these events. The WBSC currently organises Baseball World Cups in the U-12, U-15, U-18 and U-23 categories, as well as Softball World Cups in the U-15, U-18 and U-23 categories. It also organises Baseball5 World Cups for young people aged 14–18 and an open category for athletes aged 14 and over.