Baseball and softball are planning a joint bid for an Olympic place in 2020 to maximize their chances of a comeback after being dropped in 2005, said the president of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF).

Neither sport is included at this year's London Games and they must wait until 2013 for an International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote on the inclusion of new sports in 2020.

Baseball and softball are competing with karate, roller sports, sports climbing, squash, wakeboard and the martial art of wushu for a spot in the 2020 Games. A final list will be put to the vote in September 2013 for one berth.

"IBAF and ISF (International Softball Federation) are still exchanging drafts of the Memorandum of Understanding, but we hope to have a working draft finalized in time for an April 19 meeting we have with the IOC," IBAF president Riccardo Fraccari told Reuters.

He added that while the joint bid would mean they would be included in the Games program as one sport if picked, the two federations would stay separate.

"Both federations would continue to operate as they always have, that is to say independently, in overseeing their respective sports and events," said Fraccari.

"Any official cooperation between our institutions and the associated activities would be expressly for a return on to the Olympic program."

Reuters

(China Daily 04/01/2012 page7)