Baseball, softball still waiting on Olympic comeback

Fans of baseball and softball may have to wait another year to find out if the sports will make it back into the Olympics.

Speaking after a meeting in Tokyo -- site of the 2020 Summer Games -- a top Olympic official estimated that no decision on additional sports will be announced until the summer of 2016.

“The whole world is looking at this process, not just the people of Japan,” John Coates, a vice president of the International Olympic Committee, was quoted as saying by insidethegames.biz. “Many sports are interested, and this is going to be a very transparent process.”

Recent IOC reforms abolished the cap on the number of sports, but officials would like to keep the number of athletes and events at the same level, which could involve various additions and subtractions.

Baseball and softball, cut from the program after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, are expected to return in time for Tokyo. Other sports including karate, squash, skateboarding and surfing are also in the mix.