First-ever Baseball5 World Cup set for 2022 as WBSC announces five-on-five international calendar

First-ever Baseball5 World Cup set for 2022 as WBSC announces five-on-five international calendar
09/12/2020
The Baseball5 World Cup - a mixed gender competition - will be played on even years starting 2022. The Baseball5 Youth World Cup, for the ages of 14-18, will be played on odd years starting 2023. The 2025 edition will serve as a qualifier to the 2026 Youth Olympics.

The WBSC Executive Board today approved a new Baseball5 international events calendar, with the inaugural Baseball5 World Cup set to launch in 2022. Originally scheduled for 2020, the premier event for the WBSC's newest discipline was postponed earlier this year due to COVID-19 health and safety regulations.

The revised calendar follows extensive consultations with potential hosts, Member Federations and Continental Associations, and provides the opportunity for continental qualifiers to played in 2021/2022, in what has already been flagged as a busy Baseball, Softball, Baseball5 competition period for federations, ahead of the first Baseball5 World Cup in 2022.

The Baseball5 international calendar includes the Baseball5 World Cup, played on even years, and the Youth Baseball5 World Cup, for the 14-18 age bracket, played on odd years. The events will happen on a two-year cycle. The first Youth Baseball5 World Cup is scheduled for 2023.

The 2025 edition of the Youth Baseball5 World Cup will serve as a qualifier to the 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, the WBSC Events Department, together with the WBSC Integrity Unit, are working on hosting manuals and bidding documents for future hosts.

Read More: New WBSC Integrity Unit releases updated Baseball5 official ball certification programme