Japanese Players Threaten to Boycott World Baseball Classic

Japanese professional baseball players want a greater share of revenue generated by the 2013 World Baseball Classic and have threatened to boycott the International Baseball Federation sanctioned event.

The tournament is organised by the Major League Baseball and, according to the Japanese players’ association, its players are unsatisfied with the proposed distribution of sponsorship and merchandise revenues.

Takahiro Arai, Chairman of Japanese Players Union said the organisation had raised its concerns about the distribution over 18 months ago and received no response.

Japan is the current World Champion and is scheduled to host the first round of the World Baseball Classic.{jcomments on}