Olympic officials offer details on their vision for future of Games

International Olympic Committee officials have unveiled their vision for the future of the movement in a series of proposals that will be voted on by members in December.

“Agenda 2020” had been widely discussed in recent months, so there weren’t many surprises in Tuesday’s announcement. Still, significant change could be on the way.

Among the 40 proposals:

--The IOC would streamline its host site bidding process, establishing a more informal “invitation phase” and decreasing the number of presentations. Potential hosts would be encouraged to make use of existing and temporary venues rather than build from scratch. This could help reduce costs in the wake of several candidate cities withdrawing from consideration for the 2022 Winter Games.

--Countries would be allowed to submit joint proposals, spreading events -- and expenses -- across borders.

--New sports could be added while a limit on accreditation for athletes, coaches and officials would seek to keep the Olympics from growing any larger. This could open the door for the return of baseball and softball.

--Officials have proposed strengthening their stance on discrimination. Gay rights became a hot-button issue before the 2014 Sochi Games because of Russia’s anti-gay laws. Specific wording regarding sexual discrimination would be added to the Olympic Charter.

--The IOC would create a year-round channel for Olympic sports.

“Over the past year many people have asked me why there is a desire to make changes,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. “My answer is that we are now in the position to drive change ourselves rather than being driven ... we must seize the moment.”

The IOC leadership will not seek to reinstate member visits to candidate cities. Such visits were prohibited after the Salt Lake City bidding scandal.