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International Federation · Baseball & Softball

WBSC — World Baseball Softball Confederation

The WBSC, formed in Tokyo on 14 April 2013 by the merger of the IBAF and the ISF and based in Pully, is the IOC-recognised federation for baseball and softball.
✓ Last reviewed: September 2026
Formed14 April 2013, in Tokyo, by the merger of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and the International Softball Federation (ISF), per Olympedia[1]
HeadquartersAvenue Général-Guisan 45, 1009 Pully, Switzerland[1][5]
Members207 as of January 2026: 192 national federations and 15 associated members, per Olympedia[1]
RecognitionIOC-recognised (2013, per Olympedia); ARISF member; ASOIF associate member; WADA Code signatory; IWGA member[1][2][4][3][5]
DisciplinesBaseball · softball · Baseball5 · esports, per Olympedia[1]
Olympic GamesBaseball and softball at Tokyo 2020; both on the LA28 programme[6][7]

What is the WBSC?

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the international federation for baseball and softball. Olympedia records that baseball and softball were once separate sports under separate federations. After the IOC came to treat them as disciplines of one sport, the two bodies merged into the WBSC.[1] Softball Canada puts it in similar terms: the WBSC “was formed in 2013 to create a single federation designed to permanently align, merge and manage the ultimate aspirations of the sports”.[8]

Olympedia lists four areas the WBSC now oversees: baseball, softball, Baseball5 and esports.[1] The confederation keeps a baseball division and a softball division. Softball Canada notes that the softball division was “formerly known as the International Softball Federation”.[8]

The WBSC’s own website could not be retrieved, so its statutes, legal form and self-description could not be quoted.

What does the WBSC govern or do?

National-team competition: Softball Canada records that, since 1965, the softball division “has conducted World Championships in four-year cycles for men, women, junior men and junior women”. It adds: “Since 2012, all four categories have World Championships every two years.”[8] USA Softball states that its national teams can compete at “World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) World Championships once every two years”.[9]

Anti-doping: WADA lists the WBSC as a Code signatory among the ARISF members.[3]

What it does not govern: the professional leagues run their own competitions. MLB is the most visible, alongside NPB in Japan and the KBO in Korea. MLB also publishes the official site of the World Baseball Classic, which lists six editions from 2006 to 2026.[12] The most recent was won by Venezuela, which beat the United States in the final on 17 March 2026.[13] The WBSC’s own role in the Classic could not be confirmed from a retrieved source. In the United States, the national bodies are USA Baseball, which calls itself “the national governing body for amateur baseball”, and USA Softball.[10][9]

When was the WBSC founded and where is it based?

Formation: Olympedia records that “the IBAF merged with the ISF to become the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) on 14 April 2013, in Tokyo, Japan”, and gives 2013 as the founding year.[1] Softball Canada, independently, gives 2013 as the year the WBSC was formed.[8] No renaming of the WBSC since 2013 appears in the sources retrieved. Its two predecessors are older. Softball Canada states that it has been a member of the softball division, the former ISF, “for over 50 years”.[8] The founding dates of the IBAF and the ISF are not given in the sources retrieved.

Seat: Olympedia gives the headquarters as “Pully, Switzerland (adjacent to Lausanne, the Olympic Capital)”.[1] The World Games site gives the WBSC’s address as Avenue Général-Guisan 45, CH-1009 Pully.[5] The WBSC statutes, which would state the legal seat and legal form, could not be retrieved.

Continental body for the Americas: Softball Canada records that WBSC Americas, “formerly known as CONPASA”, was “founded on July 3, 1979 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the VIII Pan American Games”.[8] That is more than three decades before the WBSC was formed.

How is the WBSC recognised?

IOC: Olympedia gives 2013 as the year of the WBSC’s IOC recognition, the same year as its formation.[1] The kind of recognition is not stated in the sources retrieved, and the IOC’s own record could not be retrieved.

Olympic programme: Olympedia records that baseball and softball returned to the Games at Tokyo 2020 as optional sports and have been approved for Los Angeles 2028.[1] The LA28 organising committee states that baseball “returns to the Olympic lineup at LA28 after its most recent appearance at the Tokyo 2020 Games”. It says softball “will return to the Olympic lineup after its most recent appearance at Tokyo 2020”, having made its Olympic debut at Atlanta 1996.[6][7]

Umbrella bodies: ARISF’s member page, retrieved 30 September 2026, lists the WBSC.[2] ASOIF’s member page, retrieved the same day, lists the WBSC among its six associate members; it is not among the 30 full members.[4] WADA lists the WBSC as a Code signatory in the ARISF group, marked with an asterisk that WADA explains as denoting a federation that is also an ASOIF associate member.[3] The World Games site describes the WBSC as “Founding Member, IWGA Member Federation 1980-1989 / since 2011”.[5]

What does the WBSC organise?

Premier12: the WBSC’s national-team baseball tournament for twelve teams. The third edition, the 2024 Premier12, ran from 9 to 24 November 2024 in Japan, Taiwan and Mexico. Chinese Taipei beat Japan 4–0 in the final at Tokyo Dome on 24 November 2024, according to the Japanese national team’s record.[11]

Softball: the softball division’s world championships have run since 1965. Since 2012 each of the four categories has held one every two years, with the women’s and junior men’s events in even years and the men’s and junior women’s events in odd years.[8]

World Games: The World Games site lists baseball and softball at Santa Clara 1981; softball at London 1985; invitational softball at Kaohsiung 2009 and Cali 2013; and softball at Birmingham 2022 and Chengdu 2025. Baseball5 is scheduled for Karlsruhe 2029.[5]

Olympic Games: at LA28 the programme has a six-team men’s baseball tournament at Dodger Stadium and a six-team women’s softball tournament at OKC Softball Park in Oklahoma City.[6][7]

Who are its members?

Olympedia records that, as of January 2026, “the WBSC has 207 Members: 192 National Federations (185 Full Members and seven Provisional Members) and 15 Associated Members in 142 countries and territories”.[1] This is Olympedia’s figure. The WBSC’s own dated count could not be retrieved.

Divisional counts differ from the whole. Softball Canada states that “there are over 128 countries affiliated with the WBSC Softball Division”.[8] It also gives WBSC Americas, the continental confederation for the Americas, 28 member nations.[8]

National members named in retrieved sources include USA Baseball, which describes itself as “a member federation of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC)”.[10] They also include Softball Canada, a member of the softball division.[8] USA Softball describes itself as “the National Governing Body of softball in the United States”. It states that it was founded in 1933 and was named by the USOPC under the Amateur Sports Act of 1978.[9] See International federation for how federations of this kind are structured.

References

  1. Olympedia — World Baseball Softball Confederation (organisation page). Accessed 2026-09-30.
  2. ARISF — Members. Accessed 2026-09-30.
  3. WADA — Code Signatories. Accessed 2026-09-30.
  4. ASOIF — Members: Associate Members. Accessed 2026-09-30.
  5. The World Games — Baseball-Softball. Accessed 2026-09-30.
  6. LA28 — Baseball. Accessed 2026-09-30.
  7. LA28 — Softball. Accessed 2026-09-30.
  8. Softball Canada — International. Accessed 2026-09-30.
  9. USA Softball — About. Accessed 2026-09-30.
  10. USA Baseball — About. Accessed 2026-09-30.
  11. Samurai Japan (Japanese national baseball team) — 3rd Premier12 2024 overview. Accessed 2026-09-30.
  12. MLB — World Baseball Classic history. Accessed 2026-09-30.
  13. MLB — World Baseball Classic (official site). Accessed 2026-09-30.