Baseball-Castro son named as federation's global ambassador

BERLIN, Feb 3 (Reuters) - A son of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro was named a global ambassador by the World Baseball Softball Confederation on Tuesday, with the governing body hopeful that both sports can be included at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Antonio Castro, a fervent baseball supporter, has been involved in the sport's administration for years and has served as an executive committee member of the International Baseball Federation since 2009. He is one of Fidel Castro's better-known sons due to his role as team doctor for the national baseball squad on the communist-run island, where the game is a sporting obsession. "He will have an expanded role within the WBSC, particularly as the geopolitical landscape evolves, and will have a seat (without vote) on the WBSC Executive Board," it said in a statement. The WBSC was formed as baseball and softball, out of the Olympics since 2008, joined forces in a failed attempt to reclaim their Games spot in 2013. Castro was one of the high-profile backers of that campaign. Baseball and softball are now considered favourites to be added to the Tokyo 2020 Games. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Toby Davis)