The WBSC Extraordinary Congress unanimously approved the membership of the Democratic Republic of Congo Federation of Cricket, Baseball and Softball, the Sint Maarten National Baseball Federation and the Tanzania Baseball and Softball Association at the Gaborone International Convention Centre.

They become the 182nd, 183rd and 184th member nations respectively.

“The entire World Baseball Softball family congratulates and recognises our newest National Federations representing the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sint Maarten and Tanzania for successfully establishing baseball and softball in their countries,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari.

“Today marks another historic moment toward the global development of our sport and achieving our mission of building a billion-strong baseball and softball community over the next decade, particularly as we take aim on Olympic inclusion in 2024 and 2028.”

The WBSC Congress also ratified the expansion of the Burkina Faso and Chilean baseball-only Federations to now include softball.

The merger of the South Korean baseball and softball associations into the Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA) was also approved.

Combining baseball and softball federations follows the precedent set by the merger of the International Baseball Federation and the International Softball Federation to form the WBSC in 2014.

In addition to applications for WBSC membership, there will also be WBSC Baseball and WBSC Softball elections at the event which concludes tomorrow.

Key agenda items include reviews of the Olympic baseball and softball qualifying system and the WBSC Constitution, as well as the awarding of hosting rights for future Baseball World Cups and Softball World Championships.

WBSC will also crown a number of award winners.

These include prizes for National Federation of the Year, Baseball Player of the Year, Softball Player of the Year, National Team Baseball Coach of the Year and National Team Softball Coach of the Year.