July 17, 2020
Players who are 24 will be eligible to compete at the Under-23 Baseball World Cup next year.
The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) confirmed the move after the tournament was pushed back a year to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
It means players who would normally have been eligible will not miss out even though they will be over the usual age limit by the time the tournament is played.
The Mexican cities of Ciudad Obregon and Los Mochis are due to host the event between September 24 and October 3 in 2021.
"Due to the one-year postponement of the tournament, the WBSC has decided to make a one-time exception to expand eligibility, allowing all players who would have been eligible to participate in 2020 to represent their countries in the 2021 tournament," said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari.
"It's the highest honour in baseball to play for your country and we wanted to do everything possible to serve the athletes while preserving the integrity of the original 2020 event."
The decision also allows for those turning 18 in 2021 to be included at the tournament.
Players born in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 will all be eligible to compete.
Mexico are due to defend their title on home soil next year, after wining the 2018 edition in Barranquilla in Colombia.
Japan, Chinese Taipei, China, South Africa, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Czech Republic, Germany, New Zealand and South Korea have also qualified.
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