Bach Gives Fresh Hope for Baseball/Softball 2020 Olympic Inclusion

Baseball and Softball may have a reprieve following their failed attempt to be on the 2020 Olympic programme after new IOC president Thomas Bach says there is a possibility that the joint organisations may be included in the program for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

“This will be under discussion,” Bach said at a press conference on Wednesday.

“We will have the first broad discussion in December in a meeting of the executive board of the IOC, then the executive board will present its first discussion paper to the IOC session in Sochi.”

Baseball and softball were dropped from the 2012 program after a 2005 vote by the IOC. They failed in a bid to be reinstated for the Olympic program for 2020 and 2024 at an IOC vote in September, but Tokyo’s winning bid has refuelled calls for them to be included when the Japanese capital hosts the games.

While the Olympic Charter states that a sport’s inclusion in the program must be decided not later than the session electing the host city, Bach stressed the need to be flexible.

“I am open for more flexibility in the Olympic program,” Bach said. “But first we have to see what the rest of my colleagues in the IOC think.”

Baseball and softball are very popular in Japan and there are many existing facilities in the Tokyo area that could be used if the sports were included.

Bach was accompanied by IOC vice president, Australia’s John Coates, who heads the coordination commission for the Tokyo Games.

Japan is scaling down the cost of the planned 80,000-seat main stadium following an uproar from some prominent architects who think it’s too big and expensive.

Coates said the IOC is open to changes as long as the cutbacks don’t compromise the basic plan of the facility.

“It’s inevitable that costs will be reduced,” Coates said. “We are always open to that as long as the basic facility isn’t compromised.”

Istanbul Ready to Return to Olympic Bidding Arena

Istanbul are ready to return to the Olympic bidding arena after Hasan Arat, the man in charge of trying to bring the Olympic Games to Turkey in 2020, vowed to return with the “strongest bid yet” and make history by bringing the massive global event to the Middle East for the very first time. 

Hasan Arat was in charge of the Istanbul 2020 bid that eventually lost out to Tokyo – despite the city receiving widespread praise during the bidding process. 

Speaking ahead of his appearance at the Host Cities summit in Dubai, Mr Arat said Turkey had not given up and would make another bid in the near future. 

He said: “Istanbul 2020 had a truly inspiring story. We offered the Olympics the chance to bridge to a brand new culture, to a country and a region that has never hosted the games before. 

“One of our biggest challenges was demonstrating to the International Olympic Committee that we, as a city and as a nation, have the capacity to stage a well-organised, well-funded, safe, and efficient Games. 

“We showed them this and with the planned investment we ensured that Istanbul was more than capable of hosting the Games in 2020 – but sometimes property owners want to see evidence of you infrastructure in action and already in place. 

“We are now better equipped than ever before to host major sports events and we have a greater understanding of what is required to host an Olympic Games. 

“Our next bid will be our strongest yet.”

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