Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Wu’s (吳志揚) remark that the Taipei Dome’s delayed completion had caused Taiwan to lose its bid to host the World Baseball Classic (WBC) pre-games next year to South Korea misled baseball fans and politicized sports, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) said yesterday.
Wu on Thursday said that, according to his sources, the US’ Major League Baseball (MLB) gave the pre-games to South Korea because of the delay in the Taipei Dome’s completion.
Chang Liao, who is a board member of Chinese Taipei Baseball Association, said that Taiwan’s chances of winning the bid had nothing to do with Taipei Dome’s construction falling behind schedule.
Taiwan hosted the pre-games for the 2013 WBC at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, which shows that the MLB has confidence in the nation’s capability to host the games, he said.
That Taiwan had been selected by the MLB to host the WBC pre-games shows that the Taipei Dome’s is not among the MLB’s considerations when determining a host nation, he said.
Chang Liao said Wu likely made the remark to pressure Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) to allow the Dome construction to resume.
“I think that linking the Taipei Dome to the WBC is politicking that is misleading to baseball fans. It does not help promote baseball,” Chang Liao said.
The association said the MLB will announce its decision on host nations in the middle of this month.
Meanwhile, the Taipei Department of Sports said the Dome’s specifications conformed to international standards governing baseball stadiums.
Taipei Clean Government Committee member Wang Hsiao-yu (王小玉) on Wednesday said that as the Dome’s contractor, Farglory Group, built commercial facilities connected to the stadium, encroaching on the stadium’s space, the Dome could not be used for baseball games, as it “would not have first and third bases.”
Department division chief Wu Wei-ming (吳偉銘) said that although the first and third bases would be pushed closer to the bleachers, the distance between the bases and the bleachers would still be greater than the minimum distance set by the World Baseball Softball Confederation.
Wu said the values set by the confederation are minimum values and that all of the Dome’s dimensions are either equal to, or larger than, those stipulated by the confederation, meaning that it would be able to host professional baseball games if the construction is completed.
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