Members of the International Softball Federation (ISF) voted at a special meeting in Houston to create a new charter to join together with International Baseball Federation (IBAF) to form a new confedederation.

A total of 71 per cent of delegates backed the move which is hoped will increase the chances of the two sports being readmitted to the Olympics for 2020 having been controversially voted off by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2005, which meant their last appearances were at Beijing in 2008. 

"I was pleased with the results and look forward to meeting with the IBAF officials for further discussions and continuing preparations for the IOC presentation in December," said Don Porter, President of ISF.

"There's going to be a lot of positive things that we can do together for both our sports, not just for the Olympics but in the long term."

Tomorrow, Porter will be traveling to Paraná, Argentina, to attend the 9th ISF Junior Men's World Championship.

Fourteen of the world's best 19-and-under junior men's athletes will participate over the 10 day tournament.

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