The World Baseball Softball Confederation Europe, known as WBSC Europe, was established on February 10, 2018, during a Congress of the Confederation of European Baseball and the European Softball Federation in Val d’Europe, France. the establishment of WBSC Europe followed the historic merger of the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) and the European Softball Federation (ESF). As of September 2022, WBSC Europe counts 40 members for baseball and 39 for softball. The CEB was founded in 1953 with 5 members, which were Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy and Spain. The CEB was responsible for operating the European Baseball Championship, a championship that has been running since 1954 in Europe. In 2010, there were 112,303 players in the CEB countries. The ESF was founded in 1976 with 6 members, which were Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain. The ESF was responsible for operating the European Softball Championships. WBSC Europe History On February 14, 2018, in Paris, France, the delegates of 38 National Baseball and Softball Federations approved the merger of the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) and the European Softball Federation (ESF) at the joint European Baseball Softball Congress in Paris, France. In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, WBSC Europe relocated competitions that had been scheduled to be held in Russia during 2022, and excluded Russian and Belarusian teams from all its 2022 competitions. CEB History In April 1953 in Paris, France, 5 countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) gave birth to the European Baseball Federation, originally named in French Féderation Européenne de Baseball (FEB). The first Executive Committee was formed by President Steno Borghese of Italy, Secretary General Roger Panaye of Belgium and Vice President and head of the Technical Commission Luis Barrio of Spain. In 1954 the first European Championship was played in Belgium and Italy claimed the victory. The sixth member country, the Netherlands, was accepted at the 1956 Congress in Milan. In 1957 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sweden became the seventh member, and FEB became an eight-country federation in London in 1960 when Great Britain was accepted. In 1963 FEB launched their first club competition. The first European champion of the club competition was Picadero Barcelona. In 1967 the federations of Italy and the Netherlands announced their withdrawal from FEB and founded a new Federation: Fédération Amateur Baseball. In April 1969 the two Federations re-entered FEB. In 1971 another Italian, Bruno Beneck, succeeded