Softball ousted from Olympics by one vote
Aug. 26, 2005
Softball ousted from Olympics by one vote
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA---USA Softball learned today that the Olympic dreams of millions of young women around the world were crushed by just one vote during the IOC meeting last month in Singapore.
The 105 ballots were distributed in July and softball needed a simple majority of 53 to stay on the Olympic program. With an unidentified delegate abstaining, the 104 votes were evenly split, 52-52, ousting the sport.
The International Olympic Committee released the vote count to International Softball Federation officials, who had made a special plea to obtain it. No names were included.
"It's very disappointing to lose by one vote, especially when there's an abstention," softball federation President Don Porter said in a telephone interview. At the same time, he said, "I wonder who the 52 are who voted against us. That's my concern."
"This confirms what we had been told by many members of the International Olympic Committee, which is that the vote in Singapore was extremely close and there may have been confusion on the part of some voters, said USOC President Peter Ueberroth. “This also underscores our belief that the IOC, consistent with the spirit of fairness it has always shown, should reconsider this decision.
The United States Olympic Committee will continue to work to see that softball is reinstated to the Olympic Program. We cannot allow the Olympic dreams of women and girls worldwide to be put in jeopardy by a vote that was this close.
The International Olympic Committee is to be commended for the significant steps it has taken to increase opportunities for women and girls to participate in Olympic sport. However, the decision to remove softball from the Olympic Program stands in stark contrast to those important efforts, and we respectfully believe it should be reconsidered, Ueberroth added."
The next IOC general assembly will take place in February, just before the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Porter and several softball players are due to meet Oct. 4 with Rogge in Lausanne, Switzerland. A delegation that includes the third U.S. member of the IOC, Bob Ctvrtlik of Newport Beach, is due to lobby a number of IOC members meeting in the coming days at a 2007 Pan American Games planning meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
