Carlos Manuel Zecca

Carlos Manuel Zecca Sequeira (24 August 1922 — 21 February 2008)^[1][2] was a Costa Rican businessman and baseball executive who was the president of the International Baseball Federation (FIBA) from 1952 to 1969.^[3]

Zecca's sixteen-year tenure as president of FIBA is the longest in international baseball history. He sought to organize a youth world championship and promoted the Monterrey team's in their championship-winning 1957 Little League World Series campaign, becoming the first team from outside the United States or Canada to participate. Zecca also took the first steps in organizing international baseball outside the Americas, promoting the foundation of the Asian Baseball Federation.^[4] He was a major proponent of including baseball in the Olympic Games, and managed to secure recognition from the International Olympic Committee; baseball was included as a demonstration sport in 1956 and 1964, though FIBA was unsuccessful in making it a medal sport.^[5]

After a long hiatus, he reorganized the Amateur World Series in 1961, in his home country of Costa Rica. He secured the return of the United States to the Amateur World Series in 1969; participation of the European nations would follow the next year under his successor, Juan Isa.^[4]

Zecca's tenure as FIBA president was controversial, as other Central American federations accused his administration as reflecting his own personal ambition rather than the interest of the game.^[4] He attempted to centralize the organization, inspired by the example set by the Confederation of European Baseball in 1955.^[6]

References

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