In a boost for baseball’s bid for inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Taiwan and Japan are to co-host a new international baseball tournament this year.
The launch of the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier 12 tournament was announced in Tokyo on Monday by the leaders of the WBSC and Nippon Professional Baseball.
The tournament is set to feature the men’s top 12 ranked national teams and is scheduled to be played in Japan and Taiwan from Nov. 8 to Nov. 21.
Organizers called it a “new flagship professional baseball world championship.”
The opening round-robin stage and quarter-finals are scheduled to be played in Taiwan.
The “grand opening,” semi-finals, bronze medal game and gold medal championship are to be played at the Tokyo Dome.
WBSC president Riccardo Fraccari said that the new tournament is part of “the emergence of a new world order in baseball and softball.”
Baseball and softball were removed from the Olympics after the 2008 Beijing Games, but are hoping to be added to the program in Tokyo.
Under the International Olympic Committee’s “Olympic Agenda 2020” reforms approved last month, host cities are allowed to propose the inclusion of one or more additional events for their games.
Due to their popularity in Japan, baseball and softball are considered to have the best chance of being added.
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