Federations Roundup - First "Fair" Election for Volleyball; Softball, Baseball Near MOU

First "Fair Election" Ahead for FIVB

International Volleyball Federation president Jizhong Wei tells Around the Rings the three-way race underway to replace him will end in FIVB’s first-ever democratic election.

"FIVB has never had a fair election," he told ATR last week at federation headquarters in Lausanne.

"For me, I have to change this. I want to do like the other international sports federations and IOC."

FIVB already broke new ground Monday by announcing three confirmed candidates for the presidency: USA Volleyball CEO Doug Beal, South American Volleyball Confederation head Ary Graca and Australian Volleyball Federation chief Chris Schacht.

They’ll stand for election at the FIVB World Congress slated for Sept. 19 to 21 in Anaheim, California with the winner to assume office as just the fourth volleyball president to date.

Wei, who said from day one he would not stand for reelection, took over the FIVB in late 2008 after the retirement of longtime federation leader Ruben Acosta, who himself succeeded the 37-year presidency of Paul Libaud.

A newly appointed Advisory Election Committee chaired by Wei will oversee the campaign among Beal, Graca and Schacht as well as appoint scrutineers at the Congress itself.

"I will create ideal conditions for them according to the IOC Code of Ethics," said Wei, 76, adding that the time is right to hand over the reins of FIVB to its next generation of leaders.

"I’m an old man," he admitted with a laugh. "Old men necessarily have a conservative concept, and conservative concepts may block any new ideas."

Though the presidential vote now six months away is itself a new idea for world volleyball’s governing body, Wei insisted there’s still work to be done to ensure a future of fairness for the FIVB.

"The democratic election is the first step, but not the most important step," Wei told ATR.

"For democracy, the most important steps are 1) freedom of expression and 2) democratic supervision of all the leaders," he explained.

"These two points are the real democracy."

Softball, Baseball Near MOU

The leaders of the International Softball Federation and International Baseball Federation tell Around the Rings they are nearing completion of a Memorandum of Understanding on a joint pitch for Olympic reinstatement.

ISF president Don Porter and IBAF counterpart Riccardo Fraccari met over the weekend in Rotterdam on the sidelines of a celebration marking the 100th anniversary of baseball in the Netherlands as well as the 60th anniversary for softball.

"It afforded the opportunity for Riccardo and I to sit down and discuss where we are with regards to our possible joint venture," says Porter.

"We’re going back and forth because there are different items within the MOU that are agreeable to us and not agreeable to IBAF, and vice versa."

According to Fraccari, it’s a matter of "changing some paragraphs" and should be worked out by month’s end.

"As soon as the MOU is ready, we go together to Lausanne and discuss with the IOC," he tells ATR.

Whether their budding proposal for men’s baseball and women’s softball to return to the Games as a single sport would be allowed under the Olympic Charter is the question at stake.

Porter says both the MOU and the IOC’s blessing must be in place soon, or else softball must move forward alone for 2020.

"We’d like to get it resolved one way or the other within the next month," he tells ATR. "Definitely before the SportAccord Convention in May."

Both baseball and softball were dropped post-Beijing but are now among eight shortlisted by the IOC ahead of a 2013 decision. It's expected there will be room for only one to join the Olympic program, currently capped at 28 sports.

New Speakers for SportAccord

Executives from NASCAR, World Wresting Entertainment, UK Sport and last month’s Super Bowl are the latest additions to the speaker lineup for the 10TH anniversary SportAccord Convention.

Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR’s VP of Racing Operations; Jane Geddes, WWE’s VP of Talent Relations; UK Sport chair Baroness Sue Campbell; Indianapolis 2012 CEO Allison Melangton as well as Peter Murray, VP Talent at the William Morris Agency, join the roster for Quebec City.

The conference, themed around "A Decade of Change, A Future of Promise" and scheduled for May 20 to 25, already includes USOC CEO Scott Blackmun and Innsbruck 2012 CEO Peter Bayer, among other top execs from international sport.

Click here for the full list of confirmed speakers.

Mooloolaba Hosts ITU Opener

World Cup season for triathlon begins Saturday in scenic Mooloolaba, Australia.

From there, triathletes head to Ishigaki, Japan and then on to Huatulco, Mexico for the final WC within the Olympic qualification period.

Banyoles, Span; Guatape, Colombia; Edmonton, Canada; Tiszaujvaros, Hungary; Tongyeong, South Korea and Cancun, Mexico are the final six stops with action wrapping up Oct. 7. The 2012 world champions will be crowned later that month in Auckland, New Zealand at the conclusion of the flagship World Triathlon Series.

WSB Bound for London

World Series of Boxing will head to London for its 2012 team finals and individual championships.

The International Boxing Association changed the location from China to promote its new AIBA Professional Boxing by showcasing the sport within ExCeL, the Olympic venue for 2012.

"Great Britain is one of the hubs of the sport and we are convinced that fans from all around the country will come to the ExCeL to witness the best Olympic boxers competing in a pro format," said AIBA president C.K. Wu.

WSB’s team finals will be staged May 1 and 2 with the individual championships to follow June 9.

Written by Matthew Grayson and Evan Owens.

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