adminTOKYO. — A senior IOC official yesterday dismissed the idea of a new sport being added to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, disappointing hosts Japan who are eager to reinstate baseball and softball.
A total of 28 sports have been selected for the 2020 Summer Games, after wrestling was reinstated by the International Olympic Committee on September 7 when it also chose Tokyo as the host city for that year, over Madrid and Istanbul. Wrestling beat baseball and softball, packaged as one sport, and squash to be added to the 2020 programme.
Baseball, passionately followed in Japan as the king of sports, and its sibling softball were dropped from the 2012 London Games by the IOC, citing their lack of global appeal among other reasons. Gilbert Felli, the IOC executive director for the Olympic Games, told a news conference in Tokyo that the 28 sports for 2020 were known and “we know which sport will be here.” Felli, in Tokyo for a seminar to advise potential 2020 Olympic organisers and stakeholders on games preparation said there were a “quite clear process and procedures” for selecting new sports.
However there is still a chance that Japan’s beloved ball games could be added to the programme. Newly elected IOC president Thomas Bach is due to visit Tokyo next week where he is widely expected to face pressure from Japan to revive the sports.
A fixed Olympic programme can be changed only if the IOC executive board proposes an amendment and the IOC general assembly approves it. — AFP.
Online Reporter