The penultimate meeting of the Federal Council of the four-year period 2020-24, which took place in the CONI Council Room in Rome, was opened by communications from the federal president Andrea Marcon which confirmed the assignment to Italy by the WBSC of 3 World Cups between 2025 and 2026: U15 Baseball, U15 Softball, with Bollate and Caronno defined as venues, and B5.
Having then approved the minutes of the meeting of 5 September, the Federal Council ratified the results of the 2024 baseball and softball championships to focus attention on the status of Student-Athlete, confirming the requirements applied last year for the recognition of this qualification .
Moving on to the administrative matters, the federal president announced the achievement of an annual agreement for the supply of sportswear for the national teams with the Macron company, with the possibility of renewal for another year at the end of 2025, for a value of little less than €500,000. The position of SafeGuarding Officer was renewed with the lawyer Marco Ferrante, the work moved on to Competitive Activity Documents for the 2025 season.
There are several important innovations, especially in terms of membership: in the senior area, the June 30, 2025 as the date by which the membership must be completed including authorization and precisely in relation to authorization, 2 incoming and 1 outgoing authorization are granted for athletes coming from or going to other foreign championships.
Inserted in the documentation on Commitment model: from 1 November, athletes who are not subject to a multi-year restriction will be able to sign a document with which they undertake to register with a club from 1 January 2025.
In the youth field there is news regarding the double registration of male and female athletes to be involved in both the baseball and softball championships, while the deadline of December 15th for registration remains but with the limitation that only those who are registered by June 30th and is fielded in at least one match by that date he will be able to participate in the national phases.
Once the regulation on the training bonus has come into full effect, the Federal Council has approved the possibility, only in softball, of employing U21 athletes in the U18 category, reiterating however that, in the event of qualification, a team will be able to participate in the national phases of category only with U18 athletes.
The latest significant innovation is represented by the new formula of the A baseball series which, scheduled from 22 April to 7 September, the date after which the European Championship will take place, thus sees the completion of what was planned from last season.
At the end of the session, the vice president spoke Roberta Soldi who, having not resubmitted his candidacy for the next mandate, wanted to greet and thank the working group of which he has been part for the last 8 years.
by Fabio Ferrini
In the cover photo a glimpse of the Federal Council meeting in the CONI Council Room (FIBS)
