07/10/2012 1 Minute Read

2014 European Championship awarded to Czech Republic

Confederation of European Baseball announces Czech Republic as host of next European Championship and configuration of new qualifying format.

The next Baseball European Championship in 2014 will be played in the Czech Republic. The Technical Commission of the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) announced this decision and the new pools in a press release. The pools for the next European Championship were made based on the recent results from the 2012 tournament in the Netherlands and a CEB ranking spanning the last ten years. The CEB Executive had approved the new system in March this year.

The top ten teams of the 2012 European Championship will be qualified automatically for the next edition. 12 teams will have the chance to play a B-Level Qualifier from July 22 to 27, 2013. Another 15 teams will play a C-Level European Championship in the summer of 2014. Interested federations to host these events can submit their applications until November 1st, 2012 (B-Level) and November 1st, 2013 (C-Level). The rankings won’t be needed in the future, as promotion and relegation will determine the pools.

Italy won its second straight European Championship in September, defeating the Netherlands in the championship game. Spain finished in third place, while Germany, the Czech Republic and Sweden completed the top six.

A-teams 

  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Spain
  • Germany
  • Czech Republic
  • Sweden
  • Greece
  • France
  • Belgium
  • Croatia
  • + 2 qualifying teams of B-level

Next European Championship the Euro 2014 will be played in the Czech Republic.

B-teams 

  • Great Britain
  • Russia
  • Ukraine
  • Austria
  • Lithuania
  • Slovakia
  • Poland
  • Slovenia
  • Ireland
  • Switzerland
  • Belarus
  • Bulgaria

Next Qualifier European Championship B-level will be played 22nd till 27th July 2013 in two pools of 6 (six) participants each. Applications to organize one of the two pools have to be sent in before the 1st November 2012.

C-teams

  • Finland
  • Romania
  • Hungary
  • Serbia
  • Israel
  • Georgia
  • Latvia
  • Norway
  • Turkey
  • San Marino
  • Portugal
  • Malta
  • Denmark
  • Moldova
  • Cyprus

Next Qualifier European Championship C-level will be played in July 2014. Depending of the number of subscriptions the Technical Commission will divide the participants, if needed in two pools. Applications to organize have to be sent in before the 1st November 2013.