Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualifying events to be staged in Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Italy, Japan, Netherlands and USA

ROME, Italy — The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) today awarded the hosting rights and announced the dates for six qualifying events for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The WBSC granted hosting rights of three Olympic Baseball qualifiers and three Olympic Softball qualifiers. Chinese Taipei, Italy and USA will each be home to an Olympic Baseball Qualifier, while Canada, China and the Netherlands will each stage an Olympic Softball Qualifier.

“These next two years — 2019 and 2020 — will be the most important in the history of international baseball and softball,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. “With the announcement of the locations and timeline of the Olympic qualifiers, players, national federations, leagues and fans around the world can now see the exciting and challenging path it takes to get to Tokyo 2020 — where the competition for Olympic gold in baseball and softball promises to be among the biggest storylines.”

The WBSC Executive Board voted on the decisions at the headquarters of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), following bid presentations.

Baseball’s Road to Tokyo 2020

The first Olympic Baseball qualifier will be played from 18 to 22 September in Bologna and Parma. The top five finishers of the 2019 European Baseball Championship and the top baseball team in Africa will battle for one spot in this Africa/Europe qualifier.

The WBSC flagship Premier12® 2019 (2-17 November) — the top international baseball event of the year — will now potentially allocate two spots to the Tokyo 2020 Games, with top team in the final standing from the Asia/Oceania territory (excluding Japan) and the top finisher from the Americas set to qualify for the six-team Olympic Baseball event. The WBSC Executive Board made a ruling in Rome that if no team from Asia or Oceania finishes among the top six, this Olympic slot shall be deferred to the last Qualifier.

An eight-nation Americas Qualifier has been confirmed for March 2020 in Arizona, hosted by USA Baseball. The top National Team in Arizona will earn a place at the Olympic Games.

Competitors:

All Americas representatives from the WBSC Premier12 2019 that did not qualify for Tokyo 2020.

The top two finisher(s) from the Pan American Games Lima 2019 (not counting nations participating in the Premier12)

The final Olympic Baseball Qualifier will be hosted by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association in Taipei City. This intercontinental competition will be a six-team world tournament for the last remaining place(s) at Tokyo 2020.

Competitors:

2nd Place finisher from the Africa/Europe Qualifier in Italy

2nd and 3rd Place finishers from the Americas Qualifier in Arizona

Top two finishers from the Asian Championship 2019 (not counting nations already qualified for Tokyo 2020)

Winner of Oceania Qualifier 2019

Softball’s Road to Gold

The first Olympic Softball qualifier this year will be held in Europe, from 23 to 28 July in Utrecht, Netherlands. This eight-team qualifying event hosted by the Dutch Baseball and Softball Federation (KNBSB) will allocate one spot to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The competition will feature the top six finishers of the European Championship and the top two softball teams in Africa.

The Americas Olympic Softball Qualifier will be hosted by Softball Canada and staged from 25 August to 1 September in Surrey, Province of British Columbia. This qualifier will feature up to 16 National Teams, with the top two advancing to the six-team Olympic softball event at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

The Asia/Oceania Qualifier is scheduled for 24 to 29 September in Shanghai, under host Chinese Softball Association. This Olympic qualifier will feature eight teams — six from the Asian Games and two from Oceania — and award the final place to Tokyo 2020.

The USA Softball Women’s National Team was the first to qualify for Tokyo 2020, winning the WBSC Women’s Softball World Championship last year in Chiba, Japan.

Host country Japan has been granted an automatic entry into the 2020 Olympic Baseball and Softball events.