Cuba remains at Top of IBAF World Rankings

IBAF World Rankings updated after completion of Baseball World Cup

Lausanne, Switzerland – Cuba Remains on top of the world, the Netherlands enter International Baseball’s Top 5.

With the completion of the 2011 summer tournament schedule, the IBAF World Rankings have been amended to reflect the current positioning of nations within the IBAF baseball world.

Cuba remains at the top of the rankings, along with the United States, Korea and Japan demonstrating the top 4 nations are indeed still playing great baseball. The Netherlands, after the momentous 2011 IBAF Baseball World Cup victory moved into the top 5, while Canada, Chinese Taipei , Venezuela, Puerto Rico round out the top 10.

The rise of the Netherlands into the top 5 represents a milestone for European baseball developemnt with a total of 7 teams in the top 25.

The gains by the European sector reflect a growing balance at the elite international level, and demonstrate the strides the international game is taking in terms of development. The The Americas Region (COPABE) has 10 representatives in the top 25, followed by 8 in Europe (CEB), 6 in the Asian region (BFA) and 1 in Oceania.

The rankings are compiled using all IBAF tournaments, including Senior and non senior event held over the preceding 4 year period, and assigns points based on these results. Other criteria include
Ӣ Major World Championships with teams from five continents eligible (4x points)
Ӣ IBAF Baseball World Cup
Ӣ World Baseball Classic
Ӣ Olympic Games (to be removed from ranking system in 2012)
Ӣ Minor World Championships with teams from three or more continents (1x points)
Ӣ Intercontinental Cup
”¢ IBAF “AAA” (18U) World Junior Championships
”¢ IBAF “AA” (16U) World Youth Championships
Ӣ FISU World University Championships
Ӣ World Qualifying Tournaments with three or more continents (1x points) Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Ӣ Continental Qualifying Tournaments/Championships Scoring is as follows:
”¢ A continental event with three or more teams in the previous year-end rankings’ top 10 – 1X points
”¢ A continental event with two teams in the previous year-end rankings’ top 10 - .75X points
”¢ A continental event with one team in the previous year-end rankings’ top 10 - .50X points
”¢ A continental event with no teams in the previous year-end rankings’ top 10 - .25X points
”¢ Note: if a member federation “wins” a tournament due to forfeit or byes, then it is automatically awarded points based on a .25X multiplier
The rankings display the 2011 place, as compared to the 2010 position.