IBAF, MLB Agree World Baseball Classic Winners Now World Champions

(ATR) Winners of the World Baseball Classic will be crowned world champions beginning in 2013.

International Baseball Federation chief Riccardo Fraccari made the announcement Tuesday in San Francisco alongside Mayor Edwin Lee, executives from WBC as well as Giants players and ownership.

"In a relatively short period, the World Baseball Classic has successfully been established as the preeminent international baseball showcase," said the IBAF president.

"As such, the IBAF Executive Committee voted unanimously to assign the title of world champion to the winner of the World Baseball Classic – a title that had been reserved for the winner of the IBAF Baseball World Cup, which essentially the Classic has now developed into."

According to Fraccari, the change is part of a "new spirit of collaboration and mutual interest" between the IBAF and Major League Baseball. WBC president Paul Archey is also the MLB’s senior VP of international business operations.

Fraccari also addressed the tie-in between the WBC’s newfound designation and baseball’s bid for Olympic reinstatement, likely to be a joint effort with softball.

"We feel strongly that the Olympics would add significant value to the Classic and vice versa," he said.

"At the same time, we believe the great commercial and media success of the Classic only further reinforces the value of baseball’s place in the Olympic program."

Whether the world's top baseball and softball players would be made available for the Games, an issue of major importance to the IOC, remains unclear.

"We are actively discussing this question with the MLB and other important professional leagues around the world," said Fracarri.

"We are optimistic and confident that we can find a solution that is both realistic and feasible, but also in everyone’s long-term interests."

IBAF is proposing a six-day competition for the Olympics – down from the 10-day tournaments staged from 1992 to 2008 – to better the chances the MLB will break for the Games.

Russia 2018 Hands Over Host Cities Report, Awaits FIFA Approval

The stage is set for FIFA to confirm the host cities for the 2018 World Cup.

Following inspection visits by world football’s governing body to 13 cities throughout Russia in April, May and June, organizers handed over the Host Cities report Wednesday at FIFA headquarters in Zurich.

The report evaluates the candidates across five criteria – current infrastructure, level of socio-economic development, investment programs and plans as well as effective legacy use – and will be the basis for approval of 11 cities by the FIFA Executive Committee meeting Thursday and Friday in Zurich.

"The selection of the host cities is an important milestone for any organizer as the host cities provide the essential playing fields," said FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who will travel to Moscow on Saturday to help announce the winning candidates during a live broadcast of the "Segodnya Vecherom" show scheduled for 9:20 p.m. local time.

Earlier this month, Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko identified the five cities safe from the cut – Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Sochi and Yekaterinburg.He said Krasnodar, Samara and Nizhniy Novgorod were cities "most likely be ready" while Saransk, Volgograd, Yaroslavl, Kaliningrad and Rostov-on-Don were the five he identified as having "several problems".

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IIHF Fines Russian Federation

The Ice Hockey Federation of Russia will be fined by the International Ice Hockey Federation for failing to secure the proper transfer card for Nail Yakupov, top pick from the 2012 NHL Draft.

Yakupov signed a contract with the KHL team Neftekhimik to play in Russia during the ongoing NHL lockout. The Ice Hockey Federation of Russia, or Neftekhimik, failed to properly get an International Transfer Card allowing Yakupov to play in Russia.

Yakupov is under contract with the Sarnia Sting of the Canadian Hockey League, Canada’s top major-junior hockey league. Neither Sarnia nor Hockey Canada signed the ITC before Yakupov played 2 games for Neftekhimik.

The Ice Hockey Federation of Russia was fined $5,313 and Yakupov cannot play in Russia he receives a proper ITC.

The Ice Hockey Federation of Russia has seven days to respond to an appeal by Hockey Canada.

Written by Matthew Grayson and Aaron Bauer

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