IBAF pushes women's baseball Olympic bid

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- The International Baseball Federation has formed an 11-member panel to push its case for inclusion of women's baseball in the Olympics.

The women's baseball committee is headed by Donna Lopiano, the former CEO of the Women's Sports Foundation in the United States, and includes members from Canada, China, Japan, Taiwan, Nigeria, India, Cuba, Portugal, Australia and South Korea.

The IBAF said the panel will work to develop the women's game globally, consider the site for next year's Women's World Cup and create a world ranking system.

The move is a central part of the IBAF's bid to get baseball reinstated as an Olympic sport for the 2016 games. Baseball and softball were dropped from the Olympics for the 2012 London Games in a vote by the International Olympic Committee in 2005.

The IBAF added a women's component to its campaign after softball rejected baseball's proposal for a joint baseball-softball Olympic bid.

The IBAF estimates that more than 400,000 women and girls play baseball globally and hopes the number will double in coming years.

The IBAF is proposing a five-day, eight-team women's baseball Olympic tournament, alongside a men's tournament.

Baseball is vying with softball, rugby, golf, squash, karate and roller sports for two openings on the 2016 program.

The seven sports will make presentations to the IOC executive board on June 15. The full IOC will vote in October in Copenhagen.

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