Eight national baseball teams will compete, in a qualification tournament Cuba in 2007, for a berth for the Olympic Games in 2008 in Beijing.

According to Vice-president of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), Rodolfo Puente of Cuba, the eight teams in their Olympic qualifycation in Havana in 2007, will be produced from a 12-team Pan-American tournament.

As well, 10 teams will qualify for the Pan-American Games of Sao Paulo 2007.

Since baseball became an Olympic sport, in Barcelona 1992, only two teams have won the gold medal: Cuba (Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004) and United States (Sydney 2000).

Previously, Japan and the United States won the demonstration tournaments, in Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1998, espectively.

The representation of America in Beijing 2008 could increase after the an IBAF decision to hold an inter-continental pre-Olympic tournament to which the third and fourth places of the pre-Olympic tournament of Havana could go.

These two teams would play against the second and third places of Asia and Europe, in addition to the champions of Africa and Oceania for three additional Olympic berths.

This decision reduces the options of Asia and Europe, thus endangering the presence of baseball in the Olympic Games.

Early in October, the President of the Pan-American Baseball Confederation (COPABE), Panamanian Eduardo de Bello, appeared reluctant about this decision and said IBAF should keep many countries happy by the time voting takes place in the International Olympic Committee (IOC).