New sports for 2020 Olympics to be decided prior to Rio Games

Tokyo, Feb 5
New sports for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be determined in August next year ahead of the Rio de Janeiro Games.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice president John Coates said here Thursday that new sports will be approved at the IOC session in August just prior to the 2016 Rio Olympics, reports Xinhua.

Baseball and softball, dropped after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, are considered favourites to return in 2020 because of their popularity in Japan and the existence of top facilities.

Under IOC reforms, known as "Agenda 2020", host cities are allowed to propose the inclusion of one or more events for their games.

Other sports like squash and karate are also hopeful of joining the Tokyo programme.