Sports for 2016 -- Baseball Continues to Move Olympic Bid Forward

International Baseball Federation President Harvey Schiller met with Major League Baseball owners last week and will meet with the MLB network this week. The IBAF also named Jean-Pierre Moser as its new anti-doping manager as baseball continues to move forward in its bid for re-instatement in the Olympics in 2016.

Schiller made his case for the return of baseball to the Olympics while speaking at the Major League Baseball owners meeting in Paradise Valley, Ariz. last Thursday.

He addressed the main sticking point against baseball in the Olympics – the refusal of MLB to bring to a halt its regular season during the two-and-a-half week period of the Games.

Schiller laid out a number of possible solutions, including working with the IOC to shorten the time frame of the Olympic baseball tournament and including more players who are not active on the 25-man major league team rosters.

“Our meetings this week were very positive and supportive with the owners, both for the Olympics and the continual commitment to grow the sport worldwide,” Schiller said. “As far as the Olympics goes, our message remains the same…all parties are working together to have a representative group of the best players for 2016. We have never maintained that MLB has to shut down to do this, just as other professional leagues and businesses do not during the Olympic Games.

Everyone in baseball is working to get the best talent for the Olympics possible in 2016 and MLB, like all the other professional leagues around the world, support that effort.”

Next up for Schiller is a meeting with the MLB Network, which made its broadcasting debut on Jan. 1, before moving on to Europe for another series of meetings to promote baseball’s bid.

The IBAF president is getting together with the network to organize a support program for baseball on a worldwide basis.

Meanwhile, the IBAF selected Moser as its new anti-doping czar to oversee theimplementation of testing and compliance at the World Baseball Classic.

Moser was previously the director of the European Regional Office for the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The sport is also in the process of preparing for the World Baseball Classic, which will be held in a number of cities around the world March 5-26.

A number of the top players from 16 countries will participate in the event, which will begin March 5 with first-round action in Tokyo, Toronto, Mexico City and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Second-round games will be played in Miami and San Diego with the semifinals and finals scheduled for Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Provisional 45-man rosters for the Classic are scheduled to be released later today, with the final 28-man rosters due Feb. 24.

Written by Greg Oshust.