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Baseball World Cup 2009

by Matt Smith

Some important and exciting news about European baseball was announced today, as the IBAF confirmed that Italy will be the main host for the 2009 Baseball World Cup.

The IBAF Baseball World Cup is held every two years and it is one of the top baseball tournaments on the international calendar. The 2007 event was held last November in Taiwan and saw the U.S. emerging victorious for the first time since 1974. Cuba were the beaten finalists and the loss brought to an end an astonishing run of nine straight World Cup triumphs. The U.S. team contained several notable youngsters, including Jayson Nix (the Rockies’ starting second baseman this season), Andy La Roche (Dodgers), Colby Rasmus (Cardinals) and Evan Longoria (Rays).

The tournament has traditionally been staged in a single country (what is considered to be the first ‘World Cup’ was actually held in, and won by, Britain), but the IBAF has decided to spread the games over several countries this time around in an attempt to sell the sport to a wider European audience. In the first round of the tournament, Spain, Russia, Germany, Sweden and the Czech Republic will each host one of the five groups. The Netherlands and Italy will stage the two second round groups and the third round and final stage will be based in Italy alone. There has been some rumours doing the rounds about a possible new 20,000 capacity baseball stadium being built in Rome for the event, although these reports are very much unconfirmed at this moment in time.

Getting baseball back into the Olympics is obviously a key aim for the IBAF and staging the World Cup in Europe is part of that plan. The next International Olympic Committee Congress will be held in Copenhagen in October 2009, not long after the scheduled final for the World Cup. Staging a successful baseball tournament so close to that event (in time and location) gives the IBAF the best chance to put the sport’s future fresh in the minds of all the European delegates. And, of course, maximizing the exposure of baseball in Europe makes sense with the 2012 London Olympics on the horizon.

It’s a shame that one of the opening rounds couldn’t have been held in this country, but it’s great news for European baseball nonetheless.

Hopefully more details about the tournament will be released in due course. Currently there is just a short piece about it on the IBAF website, containing quotes from IBAF and Italian representatives which are confusing to say the least. “I am aware that in this building there have been made historical decisions”, says the IBAF’s Secretary General John Ostermeyer.   In fairness, his poor grasp of English may be a product of his nationality.  He’s an Aussie!

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