PLANT CITY, FLORIDA (USA) -- The International Softball Federation’s XII Women’s World Championship will be held June 23-July 2, 2010 in Caracas, Venezuela. The official announcement follows ISF President Don Porter’s trip to the new host site last week.

In Caracas the ISF president met with representatives of the federal government, including Sports Minister Victoria Mata, along with Venezuela Softball Federation President Jesús Suniaga, finalizing details on a contract for next year’s event, which marks the 45th anniversary of the first ever softball world championship.

The sports minister expressed her pleasure at taking on the tournament and said that Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, who has two daughters that play softball, is personally supporting the event.

The world championship had originally been awarded to the USA, however a decision was made to relocate the event due to a date conflict with the Central American & Caribbean Games in Puerto Rico that would have prevented three teams that had qualified for the ISF event from having the opportunity to play against the other 13 nations in Oklahoma City. Mr. Porter said the ISF was talking to three other potential new hosts before finally agreeing with Venezuela.

The new organizing committee has already indicated that the world championship will receive national television coverage and that international distribution is already being worked on. The Venezuelan officials outlined plans to upgrade and renovate existing facilities including the site of the 1983 Pan American Games softball competition, which will have a new main stadium in time for the ISF tournament. Practice facilities will also be readily available for the teams too.

The ISF president said he is, “more than satisfied with these new arrangements” and expressed his “full confidence that Venezuela will be a great host for the softball world and our marquee event.”

Details on hotel accommodations and tickets will be released soon.

About the ISF
The ISF is the world governing body of the sport as recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and SportAccord (formerly the General Association of International Sports Federations). Softball (women's fast pitch) made its Olympic debut at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. There are 128 affiliated countries in the ISF and millions of participants in the sport worldwide.

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