The Confederation of European Baseball has just set forth a new formula for the European Continental Tournaments to be held in 2015.
Those to participate in the Champions Cup will include the winning organizations out of Italy, Holland, Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Spain, Russia and Ukraine, meaning that the 2014 Champions, San Marino, will not have an opportunity at defending their title in 2015. The participating clubs will be divided up into two divisions of 4 teams each, with the top two teams earning the right to move onto the semifinal round of the tournament. The last place team at the conclusions of the event will be demoted to the CEB Cup. The Champions Cup will be played out over a total of 5 days.
The second of the 3 European tournaments, the CEB Cup, will also consist of 8 countries of which will include clubs out of Italy, Holland, Germany, the Czech Republic, France (the second place teams), San Marino (automatic bid for three years), Belgium and Switzerland. The winning club will earn a bid for their country in the Champions Cup the following year if that country is not already a participant in the tournament, while the last place team will be demoted to the Federations Cup.
Finally, in 2015 the Federations Cup will include the top clubs out of Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden, with the possibility of other clubs to join the even as the organizers iron out the details of the tournament.
