The promotional poster for the World Baseball Classic’s (WBC) Pool A to be held in Taichung has been updated to include photos of players from all the competing teams after a protest with the event’s organizer Major League Baseball (MLB) was made over the absence of Taiwanese players.

As of Saturday, the poster now includes Taiwan infielder Lin Tzu-wei (???) and four other players, each representing one country that will be competing in Pool A, held March 8-12 at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium.

The countries are Panama, Italy, Cuba, the Netherlands, and Taiwan which is competing as “Chinese Taipei.”

Also on Saturday, Bros Sports Marketing Co., which is responsible for organizing Pool A matches, released a statement by WBC President Jim Small expressing regret over the incident.

“We posted a World Baseball Classic graphic to social media that inadvertently did not include a player from Chinese Taipei, and we regret the error and the inconvenience we have caused to our friends in Taiwan,” Small said.

“We truly appreciate the opportunity to bring the World Baseball Classic back to Taiwan, and we look forward to staging a successful event,” he said.

Prior to Saturday, the poster featured at least one player from all countries except Taiwan in Pool A — Cuba, the Netherlands, Panama, and Italy.

The company said on Friday that “a stern protest demanding immediate rectification of this issue has been filed with the MLB.”

Tsai Chi-chang (???), the commissioner of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL), said in a social media post on Saturday that Small’s statement was duly noted.

Tsai has said previously that the CPBL would demand action from the WBC’s organizer until the issue is rectified.

After the poster update on Saturday, Bros Sports Marketing Co. said in a social media post that the WBC had heard the fans’ protest.

“No matter what the reason is, we will not exclude Taiwan’s team,” Bros Sports Marketing Co. said.

Taiwan’s first game will be held on March 8, when it will take on Panama.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel