Softball, baseball federations at odds

Sports bodies refuse to work together despite merger.

KARACHI:

The Softball Federation of Pakistan (SFP) announced yesterday that it will remain an independent body despite merging with the Baseball Federation of Pakistan (BFP).

According to SFP president Muhammad Saleem Khan, political differences can prevent the two federations from working together. Similarly, a BFP official said that the two sister sports bodies are at odds in the current scenario.

On the global front, the World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) has been formed to start an international campaign to include the two sports in the Olympics 2020 since they were last featured in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“The WBSC can work on an international stage, but in Pakistan that is unlikely to happen,” Khan told The Express Tribune. “We fought for three years to form a separate softball federation and now it will stay this way. We plan to send our women’s team to Canada for the World Championship for the first time.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2013.