PULLY, Switzerland/TIJUANA, Mexico -- The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the Mexican Baseball Federation and the respective Local Organizing Committee, today jointly announced the postponement of the 2020 WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup® and the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup to 2021, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and international travel restrictions.
The 2020 WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup will now be
scheduled for 1-9 March 2021 in Tijuana, Mexico, while the next WBSC
U-15 Baseball World Cup will take place in Tijuana from 13-22 March.
The U-15 World Cup had been initially postponed to 30
October to 8 November, while the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup had been previously
postponed to 12-21 November.
“Today’s difficult decision means that for the first time
since the founding of the International Baseball Federation in 1938, we will
have no official international baseball competitions in a calendar year,” said
WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. “We are especially disappointed for our athletes
and National Federations, who were set to compete and shine in this year’s
Baseball World Cups.
“On behalf of the WBSC, I would like to thank Mexico's
National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport (CONADE), PROBEIS, the Baja
California Sports Institute (INDEBC) and our baseball officials in
Mexico who remain dedicated to hosting and successfully delivering
these world championship events.”
With the postponement of the
Women’s and U-15 Baseball World Cups, all three of this year’s Baseball World
Cups, including the III WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup, will take place in Mexico
in 2021, with the respective qualified teams and wild cards maintaining the
right to compete.
WBSC U-15
Baseball World Cup 2021
- Africa (1): South Africa
- Americas (6): Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, USA and Venezuela
- Asia (2): Chinese Taipei and Japan
- Europe (2): Germany and Italy
- Oceania (1): Guam
The USA Baseball U-15 National Team won the last U-15
World Cup in 2018, defeating host Panama in the Final.
WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup 2021
- Americas (4): Canada, Mexico, USA and Venezuela
- Asia (3): Defending World Cup Champion Japan, Chinese Taipei
and Philippines,
- Europe (1) France
- Oceania (1): Australia
- Wild Card (3): Cuba, Dominican Republic and
Netherlands
The Women’s National Baseball
Team of Japan has won the last six editions and will carry a 30-game World Cup
winning streak into the global competition.
WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2021
- Africa (1): South Africa
- Americas (4): Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua
- Asia (3): Japan, Chinese Taipei and China
- Europe (2): Czech Republic and Germany
- Oceania (1): New Zealand
- Wild
Card (1): Korea
The rescheduled dates of the next U-23
Baseball World Cup are 24 September to 3 October 2021 in the Mexican
cities of Ciudad Obregon and Los
Mochis.
Mexico won the last U-23 Baseball World Cup (Barranquilla
2018), marking Mexico’s first-ever official world title in the sport of
baseball.