WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari, NPB Commissioner Atsushi Saito agree: "More international baseball"

The Premier12 formula allows to acknowledge the whole of a baseball programme. Everybody will remember the excitment of the Tokyo Dome crowds

The second WBSC Premier12 confirmed the success of the innovative formula.

"The format based on our ranking works. The position in the ranking help define the real strength of a baseball programme, since also youth events guarantee points," commented WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari after the championship game.

"The Premier12 helps the internationalization and the globalization of baseball, this is a fact," added Fraccari. "The game needs to be global."

NPB Commissioner Atsushi Saito is also an advocte of international baseball.

"We discussed together with WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari how to make baseball even more global. I think the globalization of soccer needs to be our benchmark. I really appreciate the way international soccer gets fans and players excited."

"We as the NPB are very much in favor of the globalization of baseball," added Atsushi Saito. I think it is a way to attract more people to baseball and fight back the growth of other sports. Soccer, rugby and table tennis recently enjoyed serious growth here in Japan. We are seriously competing with them for the attention of fans."

Atsushi Saito was named the NPB Commissioner two years ago. He is an avid baseball fan.

"We enjoyed very exciting games during the Premier12. All the participants did an excellent job and the fans enjoyed it very much. Global baseball is a lot of fun. The level of the teams was very high. Japan enjoyed the tournament the most, of course. I want to congratulate every team. They were able to create a lot of excitement."

Fraccari added on a final note: "We have pressure from many Member Countries to enter the Premier12. The Executive Board will consider an expansion for the 2023 edition. Involving more participants, more venues in more Nations, would be instrumental to the globalization of baseball."

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