WBSC Europe

World Baseball Softball Confederation Europe

The logo of World Baseball Softball Confederation Europe
Category	Sport governing body
Jurisdiction	Europe
Membership	41
Abbreviation	WBSC Europe
Affiliation	World Baseball Softball Confederation
Headquarters	Lausanne, Switzerland
President	Krunoslav Karin
Official website
www.wbsceurope.org/en

The World Baseball Softball Confederation Europe, known as WBSC Europe, was established on February 10, 2018, during a Congress of the Confederation of European Baseball and the European Softball Federation in Val d’Europe, France. the establishment of WBSC Europe followed the historic merger of the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) and the European Softball Federation (ESF).^[1] As of September 2022, WBSC Europe counts 40 members for baseball and 39 for softball.^[2]

The CEB was founded in 1953 with 5 members, which were Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy and Spain.^[3]

The CEB was responsible for operating the European Baseball Championship, a championship that has been running since 1954 in Europe.^[4] In 2010, there were 112,303 players in the CEB countries.^[5]

The ESF was founded in 1976 with 6 members, which were Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain.^[6]

The ESF was responsible for operating the European Softball Championships.^[7]

WBSC Europe History

On February 14, 2018, in Paris, France, the delegates of 38 National Baseball and Softball Federations approved the merger of the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) and the European Softball Federation (ESF) at the joint European Baseball Softball Congress in Paris, France.^[8]

In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, WBSC Europe relocated competitions that had been scheduled to be held in Russia during 2022, and excluded Russian and Belarusian teams from all its 2022 competitions.^[9]

CEB History

In April 1953 in Paris, France, 5 countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) gave birth to the European Baseball Federation, originally named in French Féderation Européenne de Baseball (FEB). The first Executive Committee was formed by President Steno Borghese of Italy, Secretary General Roger Panaye of Belgium and Vice President and head of the Technical Commission Luis Barrio of Spain.

In 1954 the first European Championship was played in Belgium and Italy claimed the victory.

The sixth member country, the Netherlands, was accepted at the 1956 Congress in Milan.

In 1957 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sweden became the seventh member, and FEB became an eight-country federation in London in 1960 when Great Britain was accepted.

In 1963 FEB launched their first club competition. The first European champion of the club competition was Picadero Barcelona.

In 1967 the federations of Italy and the Netherlands announced their withdrawal from FEB and founded a new Federation: Fédération Amateur Baseball. In April 1969 the two Federations re-entered FEB.

In 1971 another Italian, Bruno Beneck, succeeded Steno Borghese during the Congress held in Milan. San Marino was accepted as the ninth member.

In 1972 the organization changed its name to European Amateur Baseball Confederation or CEBA, according to the French Confederation Européenne de Baseball Amateur.

In 1974 the first U-18 European Championship for players of age 18 and under was played. The first title went to the Netherlands. The Dutch also claimed the first U-16 title in 1975. In 1979, during the Congress in Trieste, Italy, Denmark was accepted as the 10th member.

There were already 15 member countries when, in 1985, during the Congress in Zandvoort, Netherlands, Guus Van der Heiden of the Netherlands succeeded Bruno Beneck as the president.

When Van der Heiden died, Italian Federation President Aldo Notari was elected as the 4th president of the organization during the 1987 Congress in Barcelona.

During the 1990s the number of member countries increased dramatically up to 33 by 1994, at which time it was decided to drop the word Amateur from the name of the Confederation, known since then as CEB: Confederation Européenne du Baseball in French and Confederation of European Baseball in English. CEB also created the Cup Winners Cup in 1990 and the CEB Cup in 1993.

Martin Miller of Germany, who had been part of the executive since 1995, succeeded Aldo Notari (who was nominated Honorary President) in 2005, during the Congress in Prague. Miller was confirmed as president during the 2009 Congress in San Marino. During Miller's presidency, the number of European Cups for Clubs was reduced to two. Starting in the 2009 season, only a single European Cup for Clubs is played.

Miller resigned from the presidency during the 2012 Congress in Rotterdam. Petr Ditrich of the Czech Republic was the interim president until the 2013 Congress in Bled, Slovenia, that elected Jan Esselman of the Netherlands as the new president.

ESF History

In 1976 in Rome, Italy, 6 countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain) gave birth to the European Softball Federation (ESF). The first Executive Committee was formed by President Bruno Benek of Italy and Secretary General Theo Vleeshhouwer of Netherlands.^[10]

WBSC World Rankings

Baseball

WBSC Men's Rankings (as of 18 December 2023)[11] Europe* WBSC +/- National Team Points 1 7  Netherlands 3288 2 14  Italy 1939 3 15  Czech Republic 1900 4 17  Germany 1223 5 18  Great Britain 1142 6 19  Israel 1086 7 21  France 792 8 22  Spain 775 9 25  Belgium 365 10 26  Croatia 317 11 29 2  Austria 295 12 30 1  Sweden 271 13 35 2  Ukraine 176 14 36 1  Greece 167 15 37 1  Russia 157 16 39 1   Switzerland 139 17 40 1  Hungary 124 18 43 2  Slovakia 106 19 47 2  Lithuania 80 20 55 2  Ireland 35 21 57 2  Bulgaria 30 22 60  Serbia 24 23 61  Belarus 23 23 61  Slovakia 23 25 67  Norway 17 26 72  Poland 11 27 73  Finland 10 27 73  Romania 10 29 78  Turkey 3 30 80  Estonia 2 *Local rankings based on WBSC ranking points

WBSC Women's Rankings (as of 22 September 2023)[12] Europe* WBSC +/- National Team Points 1 14 2  France 180 2 20  Czech Republic 56 3 23 10  Netherlands 32 4 24 7  Netherlands 24 5 25  Great Britain 8 *Local rankings based on WBSC ranking points

Softball

WBSC Men's Softball Rankings (as of 26 April 2023)[13] Europe* WBSC +/- National Team Points 1 6  Czech Republic 2526 2 11  Denmark 1069 3 16  Netherlands 412 4 17 4  Israel 339 5 21 1  Croatia 182 6 23  France 156 7 26  Slovakia 76 8 30  Sweden 50 9 32  Great Britain 26 10 33  Lithuania 24 *Local rankings based on WBSC ranking points

WBSC Women's Rankings (as of 10 November 2023)[14] Europe* WBSC +/- National Team Points 1 6 2  Italy 1816 2 8 1  Netherlands 1602 3 9 1  Czech Republic 1483 4 12  Spain 950 5 13  Great Britain 936 6 18 1  Israel 725 7 19 1  Germany 646 8 20 2  France 624 9 21 4  Ireland 614 10 22 2  Poland 477 11 24 1  Croatia 443 12 25 2  Ukraine 438 13 26 4  Austria 398 14 27 1  Slovakia 370 15 28 2  Greece 365 16 34 1  Denmark 219 17 35 6  Belgium 211 18 38 1  Russia 185 19 40 2   Switzerland 169 20 44 1  Malta 95 21 45 1  Finland 88 22 47 5  Hungary 76 23 51 2  Bulgaria 65 24 52 1  Lithuania 57 25 53  Turkey 50 26 56  Sweden 38 *Local rankings based on WBSC ranking points

Baseball5

WBSC Baseball5 Rankings (as of 16 November 2023)^[15]

Europe*	WBSC	+/-	National Team	Points
1	1	1	France	3037
2	5	5	Lithuania	1892
3	11	5	Italy	1194
4	12	7	Netherlands	1179
5	13	2	Turkey	1144
6	16	7	Belgium	952
7	17	3	Romania	905
8	19	2	Czech Republic	885
9	23	2	Bulgaria	706
10	25	1	Russia	528
11	26		Spain	510
12	27	1	Israel	434
13	28	3	Estonia	426
14	29	2	Belarus	420
15	32		Moldova	358
16	33		Finland	330
17	34	1	Latvia	311
18	36	2	Germany	223
19	38	2	Greece	188
20	41	2	Switzerland	96
21	43	2	Sweden	60
*Local rankings based on WBSC ranking points

Historical leaders

Highest Ranked Europe member in the WBSC Rankings

Men's baseball

Women's baseball

Men's softball

Women's softball

Championships

Current title holders

Competition		Year	Host country	Champions	Title	Runners-up		Next edition	Dates
Baseball
European Baseball Championship		2021	Italy	Netherlands	24th	Israel		2023	24 September - 1 October
European Under-23 Baseball Championship		2021	Italy	Netherlands	1st	Germany		2023	8-12 August
U-18 European Baseball Championship		2022	Czech Republic	Spain	1st	Netherlands		2024
U-15 European Baseball Championship		2021	Czech Republic	Czech Republic	3rd	France		2023	18-22 July
U-12 European Baseball Championship		2022	Austria	Germany	2nd	Czech Republic		2023	5-9 July
Women's European Baseball Championship		2022	France	France	1st	Czech Republic		2024
Softball
Men's Softball European Championship		2021	Czech Republic	Czech Republic	11th	Denmark		2023	24-29 July
U-23 Men's Softball European Championship		2022	Czech Republic	Czech Republic		Denmark		2025
U-18 Men's Softball European Championship		2021	Czech Republic	Czech Republic	9th	Denmark		2023	3-8 July
U-16 Men's Softball European Championship		2021	Czech Republic	Czech Republic		Israel		2023	3-8 July
Women's Softball European Championship		2022	Spain	Netherlands	11th	Great Britain		2024
U-22 Women's Softball European Championship		2022	Czech Republic	Italy		Czech Republic		2024
U-18 Women's Softball European Championship		2021	Czech Republic	Czech Republic	2nd	Italy		2023	30 July - 5 August
U-15 Women's Softball European Championship		2022	Netherlands	Czech Republic		Italy		2024
Men's Slowpitch European Championship		2022	Italy	Great Britain		Netherlands		2024
ESF Co-Ed Slowpitch European Championships		2022	Slovenia	Great Britain	12th	Germany		2024
Baseball5
Baseball5 European Championship		2020	Lithuania	France	1st	Lithuania		2023	7-11 November
U-17 Baseball5 European Championship		2022	Bulgaria	France		Turkey		2024
Club
European Cup		2022	Germany	Parma	15th	Amsterdam Pirates		2023	6-10 June
European Confederation Cup		2022	France	Huskies de Rouen	2nd	Hoboken Pioneers		2023	7-11 June
European Federation Cup		2022	Belgium	Astros Valencia	2nd	Brasschaat Braves		2023	19-24 June
Men’s Softball European Super Cup		2022	Czech Republic	Oslo Alligators		Hørsholm Von Holmbäck Hurricanes		2023	28 August - 2 September
Women’s Softball European Cup		2022	Italy	Stabroek Chicaboo's		A.S.D. Avigliana Rebels		2023	23-26 August
Coed Slowpitch European Cup		2021	Bulgaria	Waynes Pardubice		UCE Travellers		2023

Medals

Last Updated: 6 August 2023

National Events

1. Men's European Baseball Championship (1954-2021) - 36 Editions
2. Women's European Baseball Championship (2019-2022) - 2 Editions
3. Men's Softball European Championship (1993-2023) - 16 Editions
4. Women's Softball European Championship (1979-2022) - 23 Editions
5. European Under-23 Baseball Championship (2017-2021) - 3 Editions
6. European Under-21 Baseball Championship (2006-2016) - 6 Editions
7. European Under-18 Baseball Championship (1974-2022) - 32 Editions
8. European Under-15 Baseball Championship (1975-2023) - 31 Editions
9. European Under-12 Baseball Championship (1992-2023) - 30 Editions
10. Baseball5 European Championship (2020) - 1 Editions
11. ESF Junior Boys Championship (U-18) (1998-2015) - 9 Editions
12. ESF Junior Girls Championship (U-18) (1991-2023) - 17 Editions
13. ESF Co-Ed Slowpitch European Championships (1998-2022) - 13 Editions
14. U-22 Women's Softball European Championship (2008-2020) - 7 Editions
15. U-15 Women's Softball European Championship (2002-2022) - 11 Editions
16. U-13 Women's Softball European Championship (2002-2010) - 5 Editions
17. U-23 Men's Softball European Championship (2022) - 1 Editions
18. U-16 Men's Softball European Championship (2017-2021) - 2 Editions
19. U17 Baseball5 European Championship (2022) - 1 Editions
20. Men's Slowpitch European Championship (2018-2022) - 2 Editions
21. Super 6 Baseball and Softball (2018) - 1 Editions + 1 Editions

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Netherlands	85	47	25	157
2	Italy	70	56	20	146
3	Czech Republic	47	47	39	133
4	Great Britain	15	5	11	31
5	Russia	12	26	23	61
6	Germany	7	8	21	36
7	France	6	7	10	23
8	Denmark	3	17	4	24
9	Spain	3	9	34	46
10	Belgium	1	5	17	23
11	Ukraine	1	2	5	8
12	Ireland	0	4	9	13
13	Israel	0	3	5	8
14	Moldova	0	3	0	3
15	Lithuania	0	2	5	7
16	Greece	0	2	1	3
	Slovenia	0	2	1	3
18	Poland	0	1	6	7
19	Austria	0	1	2	3
20	Romania	0	1	1	2
21	Serbia	0	1	0	1
	Turkey	0	1	0	1
23	Sweden	0	0	6	6
24	Croatia	0	0	4	4
25	Bulgaria	0	0	1	1
	Estonia	0	0	1	1
	Slovakia	0	0	1	1
Totals (27 entries)		250	250	252	752

• 3 Bronze awarded in 1989 U-18 European Baseball Championship.
•  Czech Republic Consist of  Czechoslovakia.

Club Events

Source:^[18]

1. European Champions Cup (1963-2023) - 59 Editions
2. European Confederation Cup (1993-2023) - 23 Editions
3. European Federation Cup (2016-2023) - 7 Editions
4. European Champion Cup Final Four (2008-2012) - 5 Editions
5. ESF men's EC club championships (1990-2022) - 32 Editions
6. ESF men's CWC club championships (2002-2011) - 10 Editions
7. ESF Co-Ed Slowpitch European Super Cup (2007-2021) - 10 Editions
8. Men’s Softball European Super Cup (-) - Editions - Not Counted in this Table
9. Women’s Softball European Cup (-) - Editions - Not Counted in this Table
10. ESF women's EC club championships (-) - Editions - Not Counted in this Table
11. ESF women's CWC club championships (-) - Editions - Not Counted in this Table
12. Coed Slowpitch European Cup (-) - Editions - Not Counted in this Table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Italy	50	40	26	116
2	Netherlands	33	29	35	97
3	Czech Republic	14	16	16	46
4	Denmark	12	11	8	31
5	Spain	10	8	16	34
6	Great Britain	7	6	5	18
7	San Marino	4	3	3	10
8	Germany	3	9	8	20
9	Belgium	3	7	13	23
10	Croatia	3	1	1	5
11	France	2	6	10	18
12	Austria	2	1	4	7
13	Ireland	1	4	1	6
14	Norway	1	1	0	2
15	Slovenia	1	0	0	1
16	Sweden	0	3	0	3
17	Russia	0	1	1	2
18	Hungary	0	0	1	1
	Ukraine	0	0	1	1
Totals (19 entries)		146	146	149	441

• 2 Bronze awarded in 2013, 2014 and 2015 European Champions Cup.

2023

Source:^[19]

Coed Slowpitch European Super Cup 2023 07/08/2023 12/08/2023

August European Softball Massimo Romeo Youth Trophy - Sport Division 2023 European Softball Massimo Romeo Youth Trophy - Sport Division 2023 16/08/2023 19/08/2023

August European Softball Massimo Romeo Youth Trophy - Future Division 2023 European Softball Massimo Romeo Youth Trophy - Future Division 2023 16/08/2023 19/08/2023

August Women’s Softball European Premier Cup 2023 Women’s Softball European Premier Cup 2023 21/08/2023 26/08/2023

August Women’s Softball European Cup Winners Cup “A” 2023 Women’s Softball European Cup Winners Cup “A” 2023 21/08/2023 26/08/2023

August Women’s Softball European Cup Winners Cup “B” 2023 Women’s Softball European Cup Winners Cup “B” 2023 21/08/2023 26/08/2023

August Women’s Softball European Cup 2023 Women’s Softball European Cup 2023 23/08/2023 26/08/2023

August Men’s Softball European Super Cup 2023 Men’s Softball European Super Cup 2023 28/08/2023 02/09/2023

October Men's European Softball Masters Cup 2023 Men's European Softball Masters Cup 2023 25/10/2023 28/10/2023

October Women's European Softball Masters 2023 Women's European Softball Masters 2023

Members

Baseball

Code	Association	National teams	Founded	Member since	Membership	IOC member	Note
ARM	Armenia	(M, W)	2005	2005	Full	Yes
AUT	Austria	(M, W)	1983	1983	Full	Yes
BLR	Belarus	(M, W)	1992	1994	Full	Yes
BEL	Belgium	(M, W)	1975	1953	Full	Yes
BUL	Bulgaria	(M, W)	1988	1992	Full	Yes
CRO	Croatia	(M, W)	1986	1992	Full	Yes
CYP	Cyprus	(M, W)		1999	Full	Yes
CZE	Czech Republic	(M, W)	1992	1993	Full	Yes
DEN	Denmark	(M, W)	2008	1979	Full	Yes
EST	Estonia	(M, W)	2016	1992	Full	Yes
FIN	Finland	(M, W)	1981	1981	Full	Yes
FRA	France	(M, W)	1924	1953	Full	Yes
GEO	Georgia	(M, W)		1992	Full	Yes
GER	Germany	(M, W)	1950	1953	Full	Yes
GBR	Great Britain	(M, W)	1987	1960	Full	Yes
GRE	Greece	(M, W)	1997	1999	Full	Yes
HUN	Hungary	(M, W)	1992	1993	Full	Yes
IRL	Ireland	(M, W)	1989	1994	Full	Yes
ISR	Israel	(M, W)	1986	1995	Full	Yes
ITA	Italy	(M, W)		1969[a]	Full	Yes
KOS	Kosovo	(M, W)	2006		Full	Yes
LAT	Latvia	(M, W)	2007	2009	Full	Yes
LTU	Lithuania	(M, W)	1992	1992	Full	Yes
MLT	Malta	(M, W)	1983	1983	Full	Yes
MDA	Moldova	(M, W)		1993	Full	Yes
NED	Netherlands	(M, W)	1912	1969[b]	Full	Yes
NOR	Norway	(M, W)	1991	1993	Full	Yes
POL	Poland	(M, W)	1978	1990	Full	Yes
POR	Portugal	(M, W)		1994	Full	Yes
ROU	Romania	(M, W)	1990	1991	Full	Yes
RUS	Russia	(M, W)	1987	1992	Full	Yes
SMR	San Marino	(M, W)	1969	1971	Full	Yes
SRB	Serbia	(M, W)	2006	2006	Full	Yes
SVK	Slovakia	(M, W)		1993	Full	Yes
SLO	Slovenia	(M, W)		1992	Full	Yes
ESP	Spain	(M, W)	1944	1953	Full	Yes
SWE	Sweden	(M, W)	1956	1957	Full	Yes
SUI	Switzerland	(M, W)		1982	Full	Yes
TUR	Turkey	(M, W)	2001	2001	Full	Yes
UKR	Ukraine	(M, W)	1992	1992	Full	Yes

Softball

Code	Association	National teams	Founded	Member since	Membership	IOC member	Note
AUT	Austria	(M, W)	1983	1983	Full	Yes
BEL	Belgium	(M, W)	1975	1953	Full	Yes
BUL	Bulgaria	(M, W)	1988	1992	Full	Yes
CRO	Croatia	(M, W)	1994	1992	Full	Yes
CYP	Cyprus	(M, W)		1999	Full	Yes
CZE	Czech Republic	(M, W)	1963	1993	Full	Yes
DEN	Denmark	(M, W)	1978	1979	Full	Yes
FIN	Finland	(M, W)	1981	1981	Full	Yes
FRA	France	(M, W)	1924	1953	Full	Yes
GEO	Georgia	(M, W)		1992	Full	Yes
GER	Germany	(M, W)	1950	1953	Full	Yes
GBR	Great Britain	(M, W)	1988	1960	Full	Yes
GRE	Greece	(M, W)	1997	1999	Full	Yes
GGY	Guernsey	(M, W)	1950	1953	Provisional	No	[Note 1]
HUN	Hungary	(M, W)	1992	1993	Full	Yes
IRL	Ireland	(M, W)	1989	1994	Full	Yes
ISR	Israel	(M, W)	1979	1995	Full	Yes
ITA	Italy	(M, W)		1969[c]	Full	Yes
KOS	Kosovo	(M, W)	2006		Full	Yes
LTU	Lithuania	(M, W)	2014	1992	Full	Yes
MLT	Malta	(M, W)	1983	1983	Full	Yes
MDA	Moldova	(M, W)		1993	Full	Yes
NED	Netherlands	(M, W)	1912	1969[d]	Full	Yes
NOR	Norway	(M, W)	1991	1993	Full	Yes
POL	Poland	(M, W)	1978	1990	Full	Yes
ROU	Romania	(M, W)	1990	1991	Full	Yes
RUS	Russia	(M, W)	1987	1992	Full	Yes
SMR	San Marino	(M, W)	1969	1971	Full	Yes
SRB	Serbia	(M, W)	2005	2006	Full	Yes
SVK	Slovakia	(M, W)	1991	1993	Full	Yes
SLO	Slovenia	(M, W)		1992	Full	Yes
ESP	Spain	(M, W)	1944	1953	Full	Yes
SWE	Sweden	(M, W)	1956	1957	Full	Yes
SUI	Switzerland	(M, W)		1982	Full	Yes
TUR	Turkey	(M, W)	2001	2001	Full	Yes
UKR	Ukraine	(M, W)	1992	1992	Full	Yes

Former members

Association	Baseball National teams	Softball National teams	Years
Czechoslovakia	(M, W)	(M, W)	1989–1993
Iceland	(M, W)	(M, W)
Serbia and Montenegro	(M, W)	(M, W)	1996–2006
Soviet Union	(M, W)	(M, W)	1996–2006
Tunisia	(M, W)	(M, W)	1957–1962
Yugoslavia	(M, W)	(M, W)	1983–1992

Notes

See also

• European Softball Federation
• European Baseball Championship
• European Cup (baseball)

References

Further reading

• Chetwynd, Josh (2008). Baseball in Europe: A Country by Country History. 344 pp. (77 photos). Print ISBN 978-0-7864-3724-5; EBook ISBN 978-0-7864-5175-3

External links

• Official website
• Confederation of European Baseball website
• European Softball Federation website