Koo Zhongliang, President of the Asian Baseball Federation, was successfully re-elected as President. (Provided by the Baseball Association)
[Reporter Luo Zhipeng/Taipei Report] The Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA) membership meeting was held today (12th). All member representatives present unanimously approved the re-election of current president Koo Chung-liang to continue to lead the BFA in promoting the development of baseball in Asia.
Over the past four years, President Koo Chung-liang has actively created a new situation for Asian baseball. The BFA has increased its membership from 23 to 29 countries or regions, and has also encouraged members to actively promote baseball and host international events. They have established the "Southeast Asian Baseball Development and Training Center" and "Asian Women's Baseball Training Base" in Thailand and mainland China respectively to deepen regional baseball cooperation and the development of women's baseball. Looking forward to the future, President Koo Zhongliang emphasized that he will continue to unite Asian baseball, promote long-term talent cultivation plans, and enhance the influence of Asian baseball in the world baseball world.
Koo Chung-liang, President of the Asian Baseball Association, presided over the membership meeting, and 20 member representatives from Asia gathered in Taipei.
(Provided by the Baseball Association)
The BFA General Assembly is the highest decision-making platform for the development of baseball in Asia. The highlight of this year is the comprehensive re-election of the next president, vice president and executive committee. Representatives from 20 member associations in Asia gathered in Taipei today to jointly draw up a blueprint for the development of Asian baseball and select important helmsmen who will lead the development of Asian baseball in the next stage. Due to his outstanding contributions during his four-year term, President Koo Zhongliang was unanimously approved by all members present and was successfully re-elected to live up to expectations. The other three vice presidents are Japan Baseball Association executive committee member Hiroko Yamada, Korean Baseball and Softball Association President Hae-young Yang and Chinese Baseball Association Vice Chairman Xie Bin.
During his tenure as the first president, Koo Chung-liang actively expanded the Asian baseball territory. The number of BFA members increased from 23 member representatives when he took office in 2022 to 29. The new members include Vietnam, Jordan, Syria and other Southeast Asian and West Asian countries. In order to enhance the representativeness of the organization and understand the development of baseball in various regions of Asia, the BFA General Assembly resolved to increase the number of executive committee members from 3 to 5, and elected representatives from Hong Kong, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and Thailand as new executive members through voting at the general assembly.
Asian Baseball Association President Koo Zhongliang took a group photo with the new executive committee members.
(Provided by the Baseball Association)
President Koo Chung-liang pointed out that Asia has a population of 4.5 billion and the baseball market has great development potential. The BFA regards the "Asian Major League" as its long-term goal and must continue to deepen cooperation through long-term training of outstanding players, referees and coaches, while expanding the fan base and gradually evaluating the development model of the event.
President Koo Chung-liang emphasized that the BFA is not just a unit that hosts events, but a "big family" that helps each other and grows together. In the future, it will promote the Asian Baseball Talent Cultivation Program and gradually establish a referee and coach certification system through institutionalized training. In terms of women's baseball, Asia currently has 13 member teams and will continue to hold events to deepen the development of women's baseball in Asia. Through cross-border student baseball exchanges, potential players are encouraged to receive education and baseball training in different countries.
Koo Zhongliang, president of the Asian Baseball Federation, was successfully re-elected as president and continues to lead the development of Asian baseball. (Provided by the Baseball Association)
Under the leadership of President Koo Chung-liang, BFA has played a role in promoting the development of baseball in Asia in recent years, including facilitating the Thai national team to come to Taiwan for relocation training, accumulating practical experience through "games instead of training", and winning the silver medal in baseball at the Southeast Asian Games that year. It also spawned the Thai Baseball International Student Exchange Program to promote Thai students with baseball potential to enter middle schools. He studied at the University of Science and Technology, joined the baseball school team for training, and continued to improve his skills by participating in college baseball competitions. In the future, he can contribute to the development of baseball in his home country. He also helped China Trust Commercial Bank, which has long been involved in the development of Taiwan's fifth-level baseball, donate golf equipment to the Philippine Baseball Association, combining corporate resources to jointly cultivate Asian baseball talents.
When Koo Zhongliang takes office in 2022, he will use "Asian "Power!" is the slogan to unite the resources of various countries in Asia to build the "Asian Major League". In response to the enthusiastic response from all member countries, the "Southeast Asian Baseball Development and Training Center" was established in Thailand, which has become a major center for training and international competitions in Southeast Asia. It also established the "Asian Women's Baseball Training Base" in Guali, Hangzhou, China, and became the Asian Women's Baseball Training Center. For four years, the BFA has assisted members in organizing Asian Cup events and renovating special venues for the competition. It has provided professional consulting advice from stadium design, construction or renovation to build a stadium that meets international standards.
