Japan has reservations about playing in the first baseball World Cup partly because the March date proposed for the event would be too close to the start of Japan's season, a high-ranking baseball official said Friday.
"There are a lot of uncertainties," said Kazuo Hasegawa, the executive secretary at the Japanese baseball commissioner's office. "At this point, it hasn't been decided if Japan can take part."
If baseball owners approve the plan and deals are reached with the players' association and the International Baseball Federation, the 16-nation tournament would take place from approximately March 4-21.
The regular season in Japan usually starts in the final week of March or the first week of April and players who take part in the World Cup would only have 1 1/2 weeks of exhibition games with their clubs. (The Associated Press)
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.