The organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have approved a plan on Wednesday that the 2011 disaster struck region of Fukushima will host games of the baseball and softball tournaments. Baseball and Softball will return to the Olympic Games for the first time since 2008 in 2020. The IOC will discuss the final decision during an executive board meeting in December. WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari will travel to Japan to make field inspections next week.
Meanwhile MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke about various topics during a press conference on Wednesday including the 2020 Olympics. He mentioned that Major League Baseball and the World Baseball Softball Confederation have exchanged some e-mails, but still have to schedule a face to face meeting to discuss MLB players’ participation in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
“We’ve had an exchange of letters,” Manfred said. “We’ve asked them to come in and explain to us exactly what the program is going to look like and to give us a firm evaluation of what can be done and what can’t be done. That meeting has not taken place yet.”