(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
     European Championship 2025 to be organized in three countries
Nederlands
 PULLY (Switzerland) -
The 2025 European Championship will be held in three different countries.
On Tuesday (October 15), WBSC Europe announced that the 38th edition of the continental champiionship will be organized in three different countries for the first time in history by confirming the locations for Groups C and D.
Today, WBSC Europe announced that Group C will be played in Senago, near Milan (Italy) and Group D in Belgium at the site of Borgerhout Squirrels, near Antwerp.
On August 22, WBSC Europe already announced that Groups A and B, as well as the Finals, were officially awarded to the Netherlands, where the games will be played in Rotterdam at the site off Curaçao Neptunus.
Back then, the host countries for Pool C and D were yet to be announced.
In September, WBSC Europe opened the bidding process for the organization of these two groups.
Sixteen countries will participate in the event, divided into four groups of four.
The best two teams advance to the Final Round.
The top eight teams of the 2023 Championship will play in Group A and B in the Netherlands.
Back then, in Czechia, Spain captured the title by winning 11-2 against Great Britain in the Final.
The Netherlands then surprisingly finished in third place, but needed ten innings to win 5-4 against Germany in the Bronze Medal-game.
Rounding out the top-8 were Czechia, Israel, France and Sweden.
Italy ended in a disappointing ninth position.
Spain, Germany, Czechia and Sweden will play in Group A.
Playing in Group B are Great Britain, the Netherlands, Israel and France.
Playing in Group C will be host Italy, Switzerland, Greece and a team that qualified in 2024.
In Group D, host Belgium will be joined by Croatia and two teams from this years Qualifiers.
In November, it will be determined by draw which countries will complete these two groups.
Following the group-stage, the Quarter Finals, Semi-Finals and Final will be played in Rotterdam.
The Championship will be held September 20-27.
In the announcement, Petr Ditrich, Vice-President Baseball of WBSC Europe, stated: ,,The three-country European Championship will certainly be a challenge, but it promises to be an unforgettable event''.
It was also announced that in 2027, the European Championship will return to a single-country format.
The tournament then will be held in Germany with Regensburg being the host-city.
It will mark the first time since 1967 that the European Championship will be held in Belgium.
Back then, the games were played in Antwerp.
The Netherlands and Italy then didn't participate and Belgium captured its lone title.
Italy last hosted the Championship in 2021 when games were played in Avigliana, Settimo Torinese and Turin, all in the Piedmont-region.
The last time that the tournament was organized in the Netherlands was in 2016 when Hoofddorp and Nieuw-Vennep were the locations.
Rotterdam last was a playing site in 2012 when games also were played in Haarlem and Vleuten.
Back then, the Final also was played in Rotterdam.
(October 15)
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