Fourteen nations affiliated to the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) have been announced as the founding members of the new body - Belgium, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Estonia, France, Lithuania, Ghana, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Togo and Tunisia.

The AFBS was formed following the inaugural WBSC Congress in Hammamet, Tunisia last month where French Federation of Baseball and Softball President, Didier Seminet. was elected as the first President of the new organisation.

The main goal of the AFBS is to promote and develop baseball and softball across all 77 nations and provinces - 57 members and 20 observers - that make up the Francophonie, a group of territories where French is the main language or where significant parts of the population use French as the first language or where there is some affiliation with French culture.

The AFBS development programme will focus on the production, sharing and distribution of French-language baseball and softball literature and teaching materials such as rules, instruction and training manuals, videos and other fundamental introductory items geared for grassroots development in communities and schools.

Baseball and softball kit donations will be organised to support ongoing programmes as well as new initiatives within the Francophonie.

The Francophone Association of Baseball Softball aims to promote and develop the sports across the world's French speaking population ©WBSC



"French is a global language and it is the official language of the Olympic Movement," said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari.

"This new advancement highlights the increasing relevance and universal appeal of baseball and softball in new and emerging territories, where they are steadily gaining a foothold and being taught in schools and on the playgrounds, and becoming more immersed in the culture as a sport that anyone can play and enjoy."

It is estimated that around 890 million people (220 million French speakers) inhabit the Francophonie nations and territories and following the inaugural WBSC Congress in Tunisia, particular focus will be on developing the sports in Africa where large parts of the population speak French.

Earlier this year, both Ghana and Uganda officially opened their first national baseball and softball venues.

"Under the guidance of the World Baseball Softball Confederation, AFBS aims to increase the spread of baseball and softball knowledge and practice in French-speaking regions especially in Africa, where new baseball and softball construction projects have been taking place and where additional support is needed to optimise growth," said AFBS President Seminet.

Plans are in place to hold an Under-12 Mixed Baseball Francophone Championship, with the possibility of holding the Championship alongside the 2017 Francophone Games in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, being explored.

"AFBS will be an invaluable partner to WBSC moving forward, and I have every confidence in President Seminet to lead this important movement, which will contribute to the sustained growth and expanded reach of our sport over the long-term, especially as WBSC targets a stronger presence on the African continent," added Fraccari.

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