WBSC Waiting for USA Baseball

(ATR) The president of the World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) reveals that several countries in the Americas would be considered in a "Plan B" if the United States cannot organize the Olympic qualifying tournament for the region.

"We are analyzing everything," said Riccardo Fraccari in exclusive remarks to Around the Rings.

The president of the Puerto Rico Baseball Federation toldEl Nuevo Díaover the weekend that Cuba is being considered as a replacement should the United States not be able to host the event.

Fraccari did not rule out Cuba as one of the possibilities but added that "any other country in America that expresses its willingness and has the conditions" could also be in the mix.

"But also, first you have to see if Cuba agrees" to assume that responsibility, clarified the president of the WBSC.

Fraccari also did not rule out that the Olympic qualifier of the Americas, possibly in April, could be played with the anti-Covid protocol of the so-called "Bubble".

He told ATR that the Women's and U-15 World Cups postponed to 2021 in Tijuana, Mexico, will take place under this system.

This Thursday, Nov. 5, Fraccari will participate in a virtual Forum of the International Federations to detail the experiences achieved by the WBSC with this Bubble scheme in the Prospect League of Mexico with 120 young people in Guadalajara in September.

Amid the uncertainty not only due to the rebound in Covid-19 cases in the United States but also due to the dangerous second wave in Europe, Fraccari recalled that the IOC has set the date for the delivery of the countries classified to the Olympic tournament of the postponed Tokyo Games.

The current epidemiological situation has again changed the plans of the WBSC, which expected to pronounce on the Pre-Olympic of the Americas by the end of 2020 whose first right to organize is still held by USA Baseball.

Fraccari declined to comment on how long WBSC would wait for a decision.

"We have to make the most of the time available. There are still eight months to go," he said.

A positive sign in the face of unrest is the panorama of the pandemic in Taiwan, which recently went 200 days without registering a case of contagion. Taiwan will host the World Pre-Olympic in June, which will award the sixth and last Olympic ticket.

Another encouraging sign was that nearly 30,000 fans attended the 34,046-seat Yokohama Stadium, the main baseball/softball venue for the Tokyo Olympics, on Sunday to watch a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) game.

It was the first time in the COVID-19 era that the venue was brought to near full capacity.

The game concluded a three-day test in which officials systematically filled the venue to test COVID-19 security measures, providing plenty of learning for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics next summer.

The Americas Olympic qualifier was originally scheduled for March 22-26, 2020 in Surprise and Tempe, Arizona.

In the Americas tournament, group B includes Cuba, Venezuela, Canada and Colombia and in group A the United States with the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Nicaragua.

The winner will qualify for Tokyo while the second and third place finishers will advance to the final qualification tournament in Taiwan.

Joining the two teams from the Americas in Taiwan are Asian sides Chinese Taipei and the People's Republic of China, the Netherlands, out of the Europe/Africa tie, and Australia, from Oceania.

Japan, as hosts, have already qualified along with South Korea, Israel and Mexico.

The pandemic meant that in 2020 the WBSC could not hold a single baseball tournament and forced the postponement of the Olympic tournament and the suspension of the World Baseball Classic by MLB in March 2021.

Along with the package of canceled and suspended tournaments, the WBSC also postponed its election congress to March 2022.

Homepage photo: WBSC

Written and reported by Miguel Hernandez

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