2008 Olympic Games.

The baseball event of the 29th Olympic Games will be held at the Wukesong Baseball Field in Beijing from August 13-23, 2008.

TOTAL (Men) 192 (8 teams x 24 athletes)

PRINCIPLES

TIMELINE:

QUALIFICATION:

Host nation
1 place is reserved for the host nation
Qualifying Tournaments
Americas
The 2006 Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be a competition of twelve (12)teams, from which two (2) teams will qualify to participate in the 2008 Olympic Baseball Tournament. The 12 teams eligible to compete in this Qualifying Tournament were determined at three zonal tournaments in October/November 2005, four teams qualifying from each tournament.

Asia
The 2007 Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be a competition of six (6) teams, from which one (1) team will qualify to participate in the 2008 Olympic Baseball Tournament. Should China, as Olympic Games host nation, win this Qualifying Tournament, the team finishing in
second place shall qualify for the Olympic Games. Those teams finishing in the first four places at the preceding Asian Championships are eligible to compete in this Qualifying Tournament. The remaining two of the six teams eligible to compete in this Qualifying Tournament will be determined at the 2007 Asian Cup, B Category.

Europe
The 2007 European Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be a competition of twelve (12) teams, from which one (1) team will qualify to participate in the 2008 Olympic Baseball Tournament.
Those teams finishing in the first ten places at the preceding European Championships, A category, are eligible to compete in this Qualifying Tournament. The remaining two of the 12 teams eligible to compete in this Qualifying Tournament will be determined at the 2006 European Championships, B category.

ENTRIES:

Teams already qualified eight places: China (Host nation)
US (American region Champion)
Cuba (American region runner-up)
Netherlands (European Champion)
Japan (Asian Champion)
Republic of Korea (Olympic Qualifying Tournament)
Canada (Olympic Qualifying Tournament)
Chinese Taipei (Olympic Qualifying Tournament)

AVAILABLE:

Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament: the last three entries
Eight participants are as follow: Oceanian Champion, African Champion, 3rd and 4th of Americas qualifying tournament, 2nd and 3rd of Asian qualifying tournament (or 3rd and 4th places should China win or finish second in the tournament, or 2nd and 4th places should China finish third) and 2nd and 3rd from European Qualifying Tournament.

China’s capital is tightening security around the highly symbolic Tiananmen Square ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games.New rules issued by the city government ban dangerous articles, including guns, explosives, knives and “other items that affect social order and public safety.”

The rules, enacted last month but announced only Monday, also allow random searches of people and vehicles in the area around the vast plaza in the heart of Beijing. They also permit authorities to take unspecified emergency measures to disperse crowds.

The rules don’t specifically mention the Olympics, but come amid an overall tightening of security in and around Beijing ahead of the games. While security in the square is routinely stepped up on sensitive dates, the rules give authorities a legal basis for more clearly defined measures and a mandate to carry them out for an indefinite period.

Tiananmen Square is China’s most politically charged public space and authorities are desperate to avoid embarrassing incidents that could tarnish the Olympics, which the Communist leadership sees as a crowning achievement and source of massive national prestige.

The square sits in front of the ceremonial legislature and has been the site of anti-government protests, including the 1989 student-led pro-democracy movement that was crushed by the People’s Liberation Army.

Underscoring sensitivity about the square, China has told broadcasters it will bar live television shots from Tiananmen during the games — disrupting the plans of NBC and other international networks that have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to broadcast the Aug. 8-24 games and were counting on eye-pleasing live shots.

The move was apparently linked to recent unrest among Tibetans and a wave of passionate protests by critics of the Communist government that followed the Olympic torch on its journey around the world last month.

Other aspects of Beijing’s Olympic security regime have not been announced, although there is a marked increase in the number of police and paramilitary troops in the center of the city.

China also has tightened visa restrictions and monitoring of residency permits for foreigners.

The third round sale of domestic Olympic tickets for Beijing venues have been sold out within two days after the sales started at 9 a.m. on Monday, according to the Olympics’ official website. Tickets for the soccer tournament in co-host cities Shanghai, Shenyang, Tianjin and Qinhuangdao, as well as tickets for equestrian in Hong Kong are still available.

A total of 1.38 million tickets for 16 sports, including boxing, soccer, volleyball and basketball, were put on sale in this round both at Bank of China outlets and on the official website.

The football competitions of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be held from August 6-23, 2008 in five cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao. The finals for men and women will be held in Beijing where three venues are located: the Workers’ Stadium, the Olympic Sports Center Stadium and the National Stadium. The venues outside Beijing are: Shanghai Stadium, Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium, Shenyang Olympic Sport Center Stadium, and Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Center Stadium.

• Drawing of lots for the Olympic football competitions (men’s):
Group A: Cote D’Ivoire (A1), Argentina (A2), Australia (A3), Serbia (A4)
Group B: Netherlands (B1), Nigeria (B2), Japan (B3), USA (B4)
Group C: China (C1), New Zealand (C2), Brazil (C3), Belgium (C4)
Group D: Republic of Korea (D1), Cameroon (D2), Honduras (D3), Italy (D4)

• Drawing of lots for the Olympic football competitions (women’s):
Group E: China (E1), Sweden (E2), Argentina (E3), Canada (E4)
Group F: DPRK (F1), Nigeria (F2), Germany (F3), Brazil (F4)
Group G: Norway (G1), USA (G2), Japan (G3), New Zealand (G4)

The tennis event of the 29th Olympic Games will be held at the Olympic Green Tennis Center in Beijing from August 10-17, 2008.

On the programme of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Beijing 2008

(1) doubles Men

(2) singles Men

(3) doubles Women

(4) singles Women

The target for tennis is 172 athletes