(LAUSANNE, Switzerland) - Dr. Harvey Schiller, President of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) completed a series of productive meetings in Arizona this week with the owners of Major League Baseball teams, and will continue to garner support with a series of meetings with the MLB Network this week before heading to Europe for further discussions this month.

“Our meetings this week were very positive and supportive with the owners, both for the Olympics and the continual committment to grow the sport worldwide ,” Schiller said. “As far as the Olympics goes, our message remains the same…all parties are working together to have a representative group of the BEST players for 2016. We have never maintained that MLB has to shut down to do this, just as other professional leagues and businesses do not during the Olympic games. Everyone in baseball is working to get the BEST talent for the Olympics possible in 2016, and MLB, like all the other professional leagues around the world, support that effort.”

Bob DuPuy, MLB’s President and Chief Operating Officer again reiterated that “Major League Baseball is working with the IBAF to explore ways to return baseball to the Olympics for 2016.”

Schiller will meet with the recently-launched MLB Network this week in Secaucus, New Jersey USA to plan out their support program for baseball on a global basis. MLB Network and ESPN will be two of over 220 outlets televising the upcoming World Baseball Classic in March worldwide.

Founded in 1938, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) is a non-governmental organisation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as administering men’s and women’s baseball at the world level. Located in Lausanne, Switzerland - the Olympic Capital - and counting 125 National Member Federations, the IBAF organises the IBAF Men’s and Women’s Baseball World Cup, the AAA (18U) and AA (16U) World Championships, the Olympic Games Baseball Tournament, and it sanctions the World Baseball Classic, among other international baseball tournaments. The IBAF works to develop and grow the game of baseball around the world. For more information, please visit IBAF.org.