Baseball/softball moves a step closer to the Olympics

Both rugby sevens and golf will be added to the Olympic programme at Rio 2016, but only one sport will be added to the programme in 2020. After being included on a shortlist of eight, baseball/softball has now been included on an even shorter list of three sports alongside squash and wrestling.

The decision was taken following a tense series of secret ballots at the International Olympic Committee's Executive Board in St Petersburg, Russia, and moves baseball/softball a step closer to featuring once more at the greatest show on Earth. All sports were required to give a twenty minute presentation to the Executive Board following a question and answer session.

President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, said: “The Executive Board received excellent presentations today from eight international federations. It was never going to be an easy decision but I feel my colleagues on the board made a good decision in selecting baseball/softball, squash and wrestling to be put forward in Buenos Aires. I wish the three shortlisted sports the best of luck in the run-up to the vote in September and would like to thank the other sports for their hard work and dedication. ”

Dan Porter, Co-president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), said of the decision: “Now I guess we're in the seventh inning and we've got to go on to the ninth. We've got a lot of young girls and boys out there who want to get their Olympic dreams back. ”

The primary reason baseball was dropped from the Olympic programme was the absence of Major League Baseball (MLB) players who are in the middle of their season whenever the Olympics takes place. However the bid was strengthened by a letter from the MLB in support of the bid, and recently representatives from the WBSC met their counterparts at the MLB Players Association to discuss a condensed Olympic schedule which could allow players to participate.

The final decision will be taken at the 125th International Olympic Committee Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina that is being held between the 7th and 10th September. This session will also decide on the location with Istanbul, Madrid or Tokyo all vying to host the 2020 Olympics.