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IOC panel could drop baseball, softball Posted: Wednesday August 28, 2002 4:01 PMUpdated: Wednesday August 28, 2002 8:49 PM
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- As major league baseball players and owners worked to prevent a strike, the sport endured a setback on the international stage Wednesday, as an IOC panel recommended dropping baseball from the Summer Olympics. The panel also proposed getting rid of softball, another game the United States excels at, while adding golf and rugby for the 2008 Beijing Games. "I think it's preposterous," said former Los Angeles Dodgers Manager Tom Lasorda, who coached the U.S. baseball team to the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. "I don't know what the reasoning would be for this. The baseball park was full for all the games we played in Sydney. "Also, the softball I saw at the Olympics was an awesome competition and the crowds were great. It's just a tremendous mistake if they drop these sports." The U.S. softball team also won in Sydney, defending the gold medal it won in Atlanta. The International Olympic Committee's program commission made the recommendations in a report delivered to the IOC executive board, according to Olympic officials familiar with the document. The executive board is expected to finish reviewing the recommendations on Thursday. If the board accepts the proposals, they would go to the full IOC assembly. A two-thirds majority is required for approval, which could come at the next IOC session in Mexico City in November. Modern pentathlon and Greco-Roman wrestling also are up for exclusion as the program commission studies ways to modernize the Olympics, which now consist of 28 summer sports and 300 events. Meanwhile, for the Winter Games, the IOC said figure skating will definitely remain on the program, dispelling speculation the sport could be dropped following the judging and fixing scandals in Salt Lake City. Baseball, a former demonstration sport, became a full medal event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. However, unlike other sports which have attracted the world's top professionals, Olympic baseball has failed to include top major league players, since the season overlaps with the games. Softball was added to the Olympics in Atlanta, but its long-term status has always been in doubt. The international softball federation is headed by an American, Don Porter. Ralph Raymond, coach of the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic softball teams, said the sport is still gaining popularity worldwide. "I think that it would be a crying shame at this point, since it's been in now for two Olympics and has proven to be a crowd pleaser," Raymond said. Golf and rugby have been among more than two dozen sports lobbying to become Olympic sports. Golf, which was in the Olympics in 1900 and 1904, was proposed for inclusion in the Atlanta Games but was blocked because of controversy over the membership policy of the Augusta National club, which has no women members. The addition of golf would raise the prospect of Tiger Woods playing for a gold medal in 2008 in China. Rugby was played in the Olympics in 1900, 1908 1920 and 1924. IOC president Jacques Rogge is a former Belgian international rugby union player. The seven-a-side version is proposed for the Olympics. If the panel's changes are adopted, there would be 27 sports if baseball, softball and modern pentathlon were dropped, and rugby and golf were added. Officials said an unspecified third new sport was also under consideration. For years, under former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, the IOC studied the possibility of dropping sports but never did so. Instead, the IOC continuously added new sports. Rogge, who took over as IOC president last year, has stressed that adding any new sports would now require eliminating others. "The reason we want to review the program is not the numbers," Rogge said Tuesday. "We still want to keep the numbers at around 10,500 athletes, 28 sports and 300 events. We want to see if the composition of the program can be improved." Asked about the criteria for a sport being included in the Olympics, Rogge cited "popularity, universality, that it not cost too much, not hurt athletes' health, and bring necessary diversity." Modern pentathlon, an Olympic sport since 1912, has long been on the possible chopping block. The sport consists of fencing, swimming, shooting, horseback riding and running. The vice president of the federation is Samaranch's son, Juan Antonio Jr. Greco-Roman wrestling, a discipline of wrestling along with freestyle, has been in the Olympics since 1896. Two other events -- three-day equestrian and race walking in track and field -- could be considered for exclusion. Elimination from the Olympic program can represent a death blow for smaller sports, which rely on millions of dollars in revenues from Olympic television and marketing revenues for their existence.
"Naturally, that's very upsetting to us," said Don Porter, president of the International Softball Federation. "When you
consider how long it took to get there, almost 30 years, and then to get a letter lid under your door ... from President Rogge with all the reasons."
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