Organizers: Japan committed to WBC

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TOKYO -- Organizers of the World Baseball Classic say they expect Japan to field a team regardless of a threat by the country's professional players to skip the 2013 tournament because of a dispute over the distribution of revenue.

Paul Archey, Major League Baseball's senior vice president of international business operations, said in a statement, "We fully expect Japan, the winners of the first two World Baseball Classics, will field another championship-caliber team of which its fans will be proud."

Japan's players association has threatened to boycott the 2013 tournament because calls for a larger share of tournament revenue weren't met. The tournament is organized by Major League Baseball.

Japan won the World Baseball Classics in 2006 and 2009.

Organizers say Nippon Professional Baseball has already committed to field a team for the 2013 tournament.

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press

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