The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) yesterday officially issued letters to member nations canceling the World Youth Baseball Championship that had been scheduled to begin in Venezuela tomorrow.
The IBAF move comes after Venezuelan authorities refused to issue visas to members of Taiwan's youth baseball teams.
Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CPBA) secretary-general Lin Tsung-cheng (林宗成) said yesterday afternoon that the Venezuelan decision had seriously violated the principles of the International Olympic Committee as well as IBAF regulations.
The CPBA had lodged a complaint with the IBAF after Venezuela refused to issue visas to the Taiwanese players.
Lin said that the IBAF issued official notices to all its member nations as well as to its executive committee and staff at 9pm yesterday Taiwan time, calling off the 2007 World Youth Baseball Championship.
The IBAF also ordered staff members to return to their respective countries as soon as possible upon receiving the notice. Issues regarding punishment will be discussed during an executive committee meeting scheduled for Saturday in Frankfurt, Germany.
Lin said that after the association had received the notice, CPBA chairman Huang Wen-chung (黃文忠) immediately replied to the IBAF, expressing gratitude for its impartiality and stating that there would not be any problems regarding the issuing of visas for the upcoming Baseball World Cup and Asian Baseball Championship to be held in Taiwan in November.
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
RSS