The Associated Press

HAVANA - The head of the International Baseball Federation says major league baseball could help ensure that the sport stays in the Olympics beyond 2008 by allowing its players to compete.

"If the big leagues say they will send their best players to the Olympic Games in Beijing, the problem will be resolved," Aldo Notari, president of the federation, told The Associated Press.

"As part of our world fight in favor of baseball, we are trying to persuade the big leagues to compete in the Olympic Games with their star ball players," said Notari, who is in Cuba for the Intercontinental Baseball Cup.

Notari said he expressed his concerns to Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, who also was here during the baseball tournament.

The IOC's program committee has recommended that baseball be eliminated from the Olympics after the 2008 games in Beijing. Notari said Rogge told him that the proposal would not be discussed at a meeting of the IOC executive committee later this month in Mexico City, as had been expected.

"This is a positive step in the direction of maintaining baseball in the Olympics," Notari said. "I am glad that this decision will not be made at the meeting in Mexico."

Without promising to fight to keep baseball in the Olympics, Rogge did tell reporters before leaving Cuba on Wednesday that he listened to the federation's proposals about cutting the Olympic baseball tournaments from 12 to five days.

"The baseball federation has made very interesting proposals about how to reduce the costs of the games, and it seems to me to be a job well done," Rogge said.