- Title: JAPAN: World Baseball Classic announces venue sites for the 2009 games
- Date: 26th March 2008
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (MARCH 24, 2008) (REUTERS) BOB DUPUY ARRIVING FOR NEW CONFERENCE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC TROPHY WBC OFFICIALS ON STAGE AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BOB DUPUY, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PRESIDENT, SAYING: "What we experienced in 2006 and what was remarkable by any standard is only going to improve with time. This is truly one of our most exciting collaborative venture and I am greatly looking forward to next year's event. " NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BOB DUPUY, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PRESIDENT, SAYING: "I think it speaks very well for the international growth of the game that all four sites of the first round are located outside the continental United States in just our second tournament. This is truly a worldwide event and these sites represent and reflect its scope. " JOURNALIST LISTENING TO NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) HARVEY SCHILLER, PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL BASEBALL FEDERATION SAYING: "The International Olympic Committee voted in Singapore a few years ago to move baseball off the programme following the games in Beijing this year. we are working very hard to return the game to the programme in 2016 or even before in London, if we can." PHOTOGRAPHERS TAKING PICTURES OF THE WBC OFFICIALS (SOUNDBITE) (English) JASON VARITEK, CAPTAIN FOR THE BOSTON RED SOX SAYING: "I'd hate to have that taken away from other people. A lot of people worked hard to get that into a sport, into the Olympics." AMERICAN, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, PUERTO RICAN AND CANADIAN BASEBALL PLAYER HOLDING THE TROPHY AS THEY POSE FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHERS
- Embargoed: 10th April 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVAAOTUYMAVH3QOITQU0HVETNILE
- Story Text: World Baseball Classic announces it will kick off the 2009 games outside the United States, as they hope to see baseball reinstated in the Olympic games.
All the first round tournaments of the 2009 World Baseball Classic will be held outside the United States, officials announced in Tokyo, Japan on Monday (March 24).
The second edition of the World Baseball Classic due to be held in March 2009, will kick off in Tokyo, Mexico, Canada and Puerto Rico, officials said.
Japan beat Cuba in the final of the inaugural international tournament in the U.S. last year. The tournament drew a combined 740,000 fans.
"What we experienced in 2006 and what was remarkable by any standard is only going to improve with time. This is truly one of our most exciting collaborative venture and I am greatly looking forward to next year's event," Bob DuPuy, Major League Baseball President told reporters on Monday, speaking on the eve of the MLB's opening match in Tokyo on Tuesday (March 25) between the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics.
"I think it speaks very well for the international growth of the game that all four sites of the first round are located outside the continental United States in just our second tournament. This is truly a worldwide event and these sites represent and reflect its scope," he added.
The teams that advanced to the second round in 2006 -- Cuba, Dominican Republic, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico, United States and Venezuela -- will receive the eight initial tournament invitations.
Members of the WBC steering committee will determine the remaining eight invitations. WBC officials said they expect the event to be held every four years following the 2009 tournament.
However, despite baseball's entrenched fans in Asia and much of North America, the sport will disappear from the Olympics after Beijing.
Baseball and softball were dropped from the programme of the London 2012 Olympics at an IOC meeting held in Singapore in 2005, becoming the first sports to be cut from the Games since polo in 1936.
International Olympic Committee members voted against even holding a ballot to decide their re-admission to the Olympic programme.
But baseball officials in Tokyo continued to be optimistic that their sport will return to the Olympics.
"The International Olympic Committee voted in Singapore a few years ago to move baseball off the programme following the games in Beijing this year. We are working very hard to return the game to the programme in 2016 or even before in London, if we can," Harvey Schiller, President of the International Baseball Federation said.
The refusal to include baseball and softball means London will stage a reduced Games of 26 sports in 2012. Athens 2004 staged the maximum 28. The last Olympics to be held with 26 sports was Atlanta in 1996. The minimum number required for a Games is 15.
Boston Red Sox captain Jason Varitek, who played in the first Olympic baseball competition in Barcelona, Spain in 1992, is also keen to see the sport being reinstated to the Olympioc programme.
"I'd hate to have that (opportunity) taken away from other people," he said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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