Home>News Center>Sports
         
 

IOC drops baseball, softball from Games
(Agenvies)
Updated: 2005-07-08 14:29

Baseball and softball, two sports invented in America, were dropped Friday from the Olympic program for the 2012 Summer Games in London.

Each of the 28 existing sports was put to a secret vote by the International Olympic Committee, and baseball and softball failed to receive a majority required to stay on the program. The other 26 sports were retained.

"I think they've made a big, big mistake," said Tommy Lasorda, the former Dodgers manager who managed the 2000 U.S. team to the gold medal in the 2000 Sydney Games. "Baseball is played by all countries now and softball, too. I think that's really going to hurt the Olympics. I don't want to knock the other sports, but I think this is a big mistake. I am very disappointed.

"I was fortunate enough to coach the U.S. Olympic team in Australia. The parks were full at all times. How can they take away a sport like that?"

The IOC will consider replacing them with two sports from a waiting list of five: golf, rugby, squash, karate and roller sports. That decision will be made Saturday.

Baseball and softball, which will remain on the program for the 2008 Beijing Games, are the first sports cut from the Olympics since polo in 1936.

Baseball, which became a medal sport in 1992, has been vulnerable because it doesn't bring top Major League players to the Olympics. Softball, a women's medal sport since 1996, has been in danger because of a perceived lack of global appeal and participation.

"Needless to say, these sports are very, very disappointed," IOC president Jacques Rogge said after announcing the result. "However, I have to emphasize the fact that they should not fear this purge. The fact is that they shall not be included in the program of the 2012 Olympic Games, but it does not disqualify them forever as Olympic sports."

Rogge said baseball and softball will be eligible to win back their place in future games.

"I would like to invite the leaders of these sports that will not be included in the program to make their very best efforts during the coming years so as to be able to convince the session that they deserve to come back to the Olympic Games in 2016. We shall support them in their efforts."

Major League Baseball and the players' union plan to launch on Monday the Baseball Classic, a 16-nation tournament that will begin in March and feature players on big league rosters.

Aldo Notari, the Italian president of the international baseball federation, acknowledged that the absence of major leaguers in the Olympics was the crucial factor in the sport's exclusion.

"One is not happy when one is in this situation," he said. "The problem with baseball is the best players are not going to the Olympics Games. But baseball is still in Beijing and it is still necessary to work for the future in 2016."

Don Porter, the American president of the international softball federation, said he was devastated by the vote.

"We thought that we had a lot of support," he said. "The members told us we were getting support, but obviously we weren't."

Porter said the decision goes back to Mexico City in 2002 when Rogge tried — but failed — to get baseball, softball and modern pentathlon removed.

"They wanted us out," Porter said. "They didn't get us out — it took them three years and now they got us out. I just think the IOC wanted some opportunity to introduce several new sports ... and in order to do that, they had to remove a couple of sports and that's what they did today."

Baseball and softball are sports rooted in American tradition.

"I don't want to say it's an anti-U.S. thing, but they are two native American sports," Porter said.

He noted that modern pentathlon, which has been on the program since the first modern games in 1896, had tradition and European support on its side.

"Europe has strong voting power in the IOC," Porter said. "They worked hard, they did the right thing to get enough to stay in."

Removal from the program can be crippling for smaller sports federations, which rely heavily on Olympic revenues for survival.

Before the vote, the head of the international federations described the existing program as a "delicate instrument" and "magical combination" which shouldn't be changed.

"Once you take one piece out to put another piece in, you don't know what the consequences will be," said Denis Oswald, president of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations. "Don't change a winning team."

The IOC will keep the voting figures secret. Not even the IOC members or sports federations will learn the totals. The secrecy was requested by the international federations in order to avoid any ranking or embarrassment for any sports which just barely make the cut.

Rogge said the figures will be seen only by an independent official, who will send the results by sealed envelope to an IOC notary in Lausanne, Switzerland. Rogge will only open the envelope in the case of a voting dispute.

"Not all sports are indispensable for the Olympic program, we know that," Rogge told the delegates before the vote.

Senior IOC member Dick Pound of Canada harshly criticized the secrecy, saying it undermined the IOC's moves for openness. He said it was in the interests of the sports federations themselves to know how they stand.

"What kind of message does the IOC send when there is complete secrecy on an issue that is important to the world?" Pound said.

But Rogge said the IOC executive board had accepted the request by the federations, who fear a low vote total would hurt them in finding sponsorship and television contracts.

"Whether we agree or not, if this is the unanimous position of the 28 international federations, we have to respect that," Rogge said.



Celebrities in Singapore for Olympics 2012 vote
Armstrong wears the leader's yellow jersey
Blair and Beckham lead UK's Olympic bid
 
  Today's Top News     Top Sports News
 

London terror bombings kill 37, wound 700

 

   
 

US mass transit alert goes to 'orange'

 

   
 

Hu calls for open, just world trade

 

   
 

SEPA ruling ends debate on park project

 

   
 

New Party delegation arrives in Nanjing

 

   
 

China, US discussing textile tensions

 

   
  IOC drops baseball, softball from Games
   
  British Olympic committee vows attacks will not affect 2012 Olympics
   
  Liu Xiang meets top rivals again, in Rome
   
  Sun: Park's top Asian player; no comparison with S.Koreans
   
  London cancels Olympic homecoming
   
  Figo accepts Liverpool offer
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 中文字幕天堂网| 亚洲日韩一页精品发布| 青柠直播视频在线观看网 | 亚洲欧洲精品视频在线观看| 精品一区二区三区自拍图片区| 国产一级片播放| 久久久久人妻精品一区二区三区| 激情欧美人xxxxx| 国产麻豆成av人片在线观看| www.中文字幕在线观看| 成人深夜福利视频| 久久久久久一品道精品免费看| 日韩欧美二区在线观看| 亚洲va成无码人在线观看| 欧美日本高清视频在线观看| 亚洲精品欧洲精品| 狠狠色伊人亚洲综合网站色| 免费看一级做a爰片久久| 美女扒开尿口让男人桶免费网站| 国产九九久久99精品影院| 马浩宁高考考了多少分| 国产成人精品视频午夜| 亚洲六月丁香婷婷综合| 国产精品无码2021在线观看 | 亚洲视频你懂的| 粉嫩小仙女扒开双腿自慰| 四虎永久网址在线观看| 色爱av综合网站| 国产不卡在线看| 里番无修旧番6080在线观看| 国产在线播放免费| 麻豆国产福利91在线| 国产成人av三级在线观看| 国产色在线视频| 国产欧美一区二区三区免费 | 国产综合精品一区二区三区| 97碰在线视频| 国内精品人妻无码久久久影院导航 | 亚洲成人免费网址| 欧美日韩电影在线观看| 亚洲欧美人成综合导航|