It’s only 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic is already affecting 2021. The World Baseball Classic is the latest event to be impacted by the virus.
The 2021 version of the World Baseball Classic has been cancelled, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPN.
Source to ESPN Deportes: World Baseball Classic will not be played in 2021
— Enrique Rojas/ESPN (@Enrique_Rojas1) May 11, 2020
The Classic was scheduled to take place next March in the United States, Japan, and Taiwan. Since the WBC is included in MLB’s current collective bargaining agreement, the tournament will have to be renegotiated to include MLB participation.
In a statement to ESPN, the World Baseball and Softball Confederation said that no decision has been made on the 2021 tournament, but various reports have confirmed Rojas’s original claim.
“The WBSC-sanctioned World Classic is jointly organized by MLB and the MLB Players Association, with whom we are in constant contact,” the WBSC said in a statement. “Together with the MLB, we periodically review the status and any possible changes in the tournament in general, and also, currently, due to the security measures implemented regarding the coronavirus pandemic.”
Joel Sherman of the New York Post was among those to confirm the WBC was being postponed. Sherman added that a source told him the tournament will be pushed back to 2023.
Source: The WBC is going to be moved from next March to 2023, pending approval by the tournament board.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) May 11, 2020
The last time the WBC was played was in 2017 when the United States won its first title by beating Puerto Rico. The 2020 MLB season is still on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, but there is a proposal in the works that would see the MLB season start in July.
