2019-02-21

Asia appoints new baseball leaders at BFA Congress

TAIPEI – Baseball’s governing bodies in Asia met at the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA) Congress on Tuesday, 19 February in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei. WBSC was represented at the meeting by Executive Director Michael Schmidt.

Since Vice President Yoshinobu Suzuki of Japan and Member at Large Allen Mak of Hong Kong retired from their positions and Member at Large Khawar Shah passed away, the Congress called for the election of three Executive Board Members.

The new BFA Vice President is Japan’s Masatake Yamanaka. Recently appointed as the President of the Baseball Federation of Japan, Yamanaka was a star pitcher in College but never played pro. He was inducted into the Japanese Hall of Fame in 2016.

The new Members at Large are Andika Monoarfa of Indonesia, a former player and currently a business man, and Syed Fakhar Ali Shah, the President of Pakistan Baseball Federation.

After the election, Syed Fakhar Ali Shah resigned from the position of Executive Dirctor of West Asia and appointed Fazil Hussain, the President of the Baseball Association of Sri Lanka, to the position.

Tom Peng of Chinese Taipei, who is the current WBSC Executive Vice President for Baseball, is the reigning BFA President.