FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 23, 2002

ISF PRESIDENT CONCLUDES MEETING WITH IOC

A statement was issued today by International Softball Federation (ISF) President Don Porter following a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland with Dr. Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and IOC Director of Sports Gilbert Felli. The focus of the trip was to discuss a recent recommendation by the IOC Program Commission to drop softball - along with two other sports - from the Olympics, beginning with the 2008 Games in Beijing.

"As I did at the end of our meeting, I again thank Dr. Rogge and Mr. Felli for meeting with us and listening to the case we presented on why softball should not be eliminated from the Olympics," Mr. Porter said. "We presented a wealth of information that refuted the concerns about our sport that the Program Commission's report cited. Dr. Rogge and Mr. Felli were very attentive, and our focus now has to be on communicating those same facts to the IOC members, some of whom already pledged their support to us."

Mr. Porter noted that Dr. Rogge indicated that no decision will be made prior to the IOC's meeting in Mexico City at the end of November.

"We're comfortable with that and how the discussion went, and are going to continue our efforts to raise awareness of why our sport is of Olympic caliber," Mr. Porter said.

Some of the items highlighted during the meeting, which the ISF continues to trumpet, are the sport having ranked fifth in TV rating averages for top women's events in softball's debut appearance at the 1996 Olympic Games and then fourth in 2000, 60% of Olympic venues having been more costly than that for softball at the Games in Sydney two years ago, and the almost one million dollars (U.S.) in softball equipment the ISF has provided to over 50 countries in the last four years.

Mr. Porter was joined at the meeting by ISF Secretary General Andy Loechner, ISF 1st Vice President Clovis Lodewijks, ISF Vice President/Europe Ramaz Goglidze, ISF Vice President/Europe Pavel Prachar, and Ms. Alma Neville, President of the British Softball Federation. Mr. Porter will now travel to Korea for the 14th Asian Games, which include women's softball.

For more information, please contact ISF Director of Communications Bruce Wawrzyniak at brucew@internationalsoftball.com or (813) 864-0100, ext. 229.