Paralympic water ski World Champion Daniele Cassioli supported the initiative.

Baseball is the No. 1 spectator sport in Taiwan, and the Chinese Taipei Baseball Team programme is currently ranked No. 2 in the WBSC Baseball World Rankings.

World No. 1 Argentina, No. 8 Mexico, No. 9 Venezuela, No. 13 Guatemala, No. 20 Dominican Republic, No. 27 Colombia, No. 30 Panama and No. 32 Peru will play a single round robin from 23-28 July.

The European tournament will take place in Barcelona, Gavà, Sant Boi de Llobregat and Viladecans.

The WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup, a 12-team competition, will proceed as an 11-team official world championship tournament for the current edition, with no substitution permitted at this late stage.

"It means a lot to my family and me to represent our country. It's going to be awesome to have 'USA' across my chest," said Trout.

The world No. 6 Venezuelan baseball programme earned a bronze medal in 2011.

"I'm confident this agreement will help us develop the game further in Kenya," commented Kenyan baseball leader Titus Mutwiri.

The Australian coach led his National Team the the World Championship in Saskatoon 2009, Australia's only world title so far.

Softball made its Olympic return after being out of the Games for the 2012 and 2016 editions.