Tokyo wants baseball added for 2020

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 was added to the 2020 program, beating baseball and softball, packaged as one sport, and squash.

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, among other things, their lack of global appeal.

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 was 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 program.

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.