Baseball's 2009 World Cup shifted from Cuba to ... Europe?

LONDON -- Baseball's 2009 World Cup is being shifted from Cuba to seven European nations in an effort to bolster the sport's bid to get back into the Olympics.

Cuba agreed to the move, the Italian baseball federation told The Associated Press on Monday.

Italy will host the final, and games also will be played in six other European nations. An announcement was to be made in Rome on Tuesday, the federation said.

The International Olympic Committee eliminated baseball and softball from the 2012 London Olympics during a vote in 2005. The committee will review baseball's success during the Beijing Games in August and the next World Baseball Classic in March 2009.

The World Cup will be held in September 2009, and the IOC will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, the following month to determine whether baseball and softball will be readmitted to the Olympic program for the 2016 Games.

Italian baseball federation president Riccardo Fraccari came up with the idea of shifting the tournament to Europe because that is where the bulk of IOC members live, the federation said.

Twenty teams will participate in the tournament. The United States won last November's World Cup, which was played in Taiwan. Only players not on major league 25-man rosters were eligible.