The International Baseball Federation is the former worldwide governing body recognized by the International Olympic Committee as overseeing, deciding and executing the policy of the sport of baseball. The IBAF has since become the international baseball "Division" of the World Baseball Softball Confederation, the officially recognized world governing body for baseball. One of its principal responsibilities under the WBSC umbrella is to organize, standardize and sanction international competitions, using the WBSC name, among baseball's 124 national governing bodies through its various tournaments to determine a world champion and calculate world rankings for both men's and women's baseball. Prior to the establishment of the WBSC, which has since superseded its authority, the IBAF had been the lone entity that can assign the title of "world champion" to any baseball team delegated to represent a nation. Its offices are housed within the WBSC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland—the Olympic Capital.
Baseball at the Summer Olympics unofficially debuted at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, and was first contested as a demonstration sport at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. It became an official Olympic sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, then was played at each Olympiad through the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The sport was then dropped from the Summer Olympic program, until being revived for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo for a single appearance. It is next expected to be part of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
The Japan national baseball team is the national team representing Japan in international baseball competitions. It won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009, as well as WBSC Premier12 in 2019. The team is currently ranked 1st in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation.
The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 4th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball tournament in 2000, and the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in 2017.
The Chinese Taipei baseball team is the national men's baseball team of the Republic of China (Taiwan). It is governed by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association. The team is ranked second in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, behind only Japan. The team is usually made up of professionals from Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League, Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, and Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball from the United States.
The WBSC World Rankings is a ranking system for national teams in baseball and softball. The teams of the member nations of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), baseball's world governing body, are ranked based on their tournament results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. A point system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of WBSC-recognized international tournaments. Under the existing system, rankings are based on a team's performance over the last four years, with major international tournaments awarded a higher weighting compared to minor international and continental tournaments.
The 125th IOC Session took place at the Buenos Aires Hilton in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 7 to 10 September 2013. On 7 September, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) elected Tokyo as the host city of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Wrestling was restored to the Olympic sports program for 2020 and 2024. Thomas Bach was elected to an eight-year term as IOC President on 10 September.
World Baseball Softball Confederation is the world governing body for the sports of baseball, softball, and Baseball5. It was established in 2013 by the merger of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and International Softball Federation (ISF), the former world governing bodies for baseball and softball, respectively. Under WBSC's organizational structure, IBAF and ISF now serve as the Baseball Division and Softball Division of WBSC. Each division is governed by an executive committee, while the WBSC is governed by an executive board.
The WBSC Premier12 is the international baseball tournament organized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), featuring the 12 highest-ranked national baseball teams in the world. The first tournament was held in Taiwan and Japan in November 2015. The second tournament, 2019 WBSC Premier12, was held in November 2019, and served as a qualifier for two teams for baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Surfing at the Summer Olympics made its debut in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The Olympics was originally scheduled to be held in 2020, but was postponed to 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Baseball was featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Tokyo, for the first time since the 2008 Summer Olympics. Six national teams competed in the tournament: Israel, Japan (host), Mexico, South Korea, the United States, and the Dominican Republic.
Softball was featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo for the first time since the 2008 Summer Olympics. The tournament consisted of six teams. Baseball/softball was one of five sports added to the program of the 2020 Summer Olympics only. The first six opening round games were played at Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium in an effort to highlight Fukushima's recovery from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, while the remaining games were played at Yokohama Stadium. Softball will not return in 2024.
Baseball competitions at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, were held from July 27 to August 4. The venue for the competition was the baseball stadium located at the Villa María del Triunfo cluster. A total of eight men's teams competed. This meant a total of 192 athletes were scheduled to compete. After being contested for the first time ever in 2015, the women's event was dropped for this edition.
The 2019 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It was the second WBSC Premier12 event. The championship was held from November 2 to 17, 2019, in Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.
Six national teams qualified to compete in baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. As host, Japan automatically qualified. Israel also qualified, by winning the Africa/Europe Qualifying Event in September 2019.
Australia competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Australia is one of only five countries to have sent athletes to every Summer Olympics of the modern era, alongside Great Britain, France, Greece, and Switzerland.
Baseball5 (B5) is an international variation of the safe haven games of baseball and softball, and is governed by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). The game revolves around two teams of five players taking turns playing offense and defense, with each of the offensive team's players hitting a small rubber ball with their bare hands into the field of play and then running counterclockwise around four bases laid out in a square shape to score a run, while the defensive team tries to eliminate offensive players before they complete their trip around the bases to prevent them from scoring. Outs occur either when a hit ball is caught before touching the ground, or when a defender with the ball touches either a base or a runner. The teams switch roles after three outs are made, with an "inning" being completed when both teams have played offense once. The game is played to five innings, with any ties being broken by playing extra innings as necessary, and games generally lasting 15 to 20 minutes. Unlike baseball/softball, there is no pitcher, with the batter starting each play with the ball, which is the only equipment used in the game.
The 2021 Women's Baseball World Cup will be the ninth edition of the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup, the biennial international women's baseball world championship tournament. The competition will be held in Tijuana, Mexico in late 2021, with dates to be announced. The competition was originally to be held in Monterrey, Mexico from 11 to 20 September 2020, and was initially rescheduled to be held in Tijuana from 1 to 9 March 2021, but was postponed both times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Three national teams, hosts Mexico, France and the Philippines will make their debut in the tournament.
The Burkina Faso national baseball team also known as The Upright Men, is a baseball team which represents Burkina Faso in international baseball competitions.
The Baseball5 World Cup is a mixed-gender Baseball5 (B5) world championship that is to be held every two years, with the first edition to be held in 2022 and contested by 12 countries. The Youth Baseball5 World Cup (YB5WC) is a B5 world championship for players aged 14 to 18 years old, and follows the same format as the B5WC, with the first edition to be held in 2023, and the 2025 edition to act as a qualifier for the mixed-gender Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics Baseball5 event, which will be Baseball5's first appearance at the Youth Olympics, as well as the first appearance of a mixed-gender team sport at an Olympic event. Both tournaments are governed by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).
