The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the 1986 AWS.

The tournament was held, for the third time, in Italy, from July 21 to August 2.

The final was a repeat of the previous BWC tournament, with Cuba again defeating South Korea in the final, winning its 22nd title.

This was the first edition of the tournament that allowed professional players to take part in the competition.

[1] The next six competitions were also held as the BWC tournament, which was replaced in 2015 by the quadrennial WBSC Premier12.