League Notes: Baseball, Softball Agree On Name Of Governing Body For Olympic Bid

Baseball and softball leaders "have agreed on a name for the new unified int'l body seeking a place in the 2020 Olympics." The World Baseball Softball Confederation "will govern both sports in their joint bid for a return to the Games." The group "will be led by co-Presidents Don Porter and Riccardo Fraccari." Porter is current president of the Int'l Softball Federation; Fraccari heads the Int'l Baseball Federation (IBAF). Both men are in Lausanne, Switzerland this week for presentations to the IOC program commission (AP, 12/17). ... Embattled Cricket South Africa "is facing a new challenge as calls mounted for the resignation of its action President Willie Basson." This comes "following allegations that he was part of apartheid-era chemical warfare research programmes aimed at oppressing the black majority" (PTI, 12/14). ... A recent judgment in favor of the Indian Hockey Federation, the country's governing field hockey body, "could result in a huge tax relief for other sports federations too, including the cash-rich Board of Control for Cricket in India." The IHF "had opposed the income tax department's levy on Rs 44.99 lakh sponsorship money received from Sahara India in '08-09." The IT department "treated this as IHF's income and imposed tax on the returnable income" (TNN, 12/16).