New roadmap for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in 2021 being prepared

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee announced today that a new roadmap to the Games in 2021 is now being constructed and is due to be released in May.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is committed to working with the IOC and Tokyo 2020 to streamline the planning and optimize efficiencies with regard to the staging of the Olympic baseball and softball events.

Baseball and softball at the Tokyo 2020 Games are planned to be played at Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium and Yokohama Stadium, home of Nippon Professional Baseball's Yokohama DeNA BayStars. Prior to the postponement, softball was slated to be the first sport played at the Tokyo 2020 Games, with a special opener in Fukushima.

"The strong spirit of collaboration between the IOC, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Olympic Movement, Tokyo 2020 and the Japanese authorities, has already allowed us to bring some clarity and certainty to athletes, fans and stakeholders," the IOC said in a statement.

Baseball and Softball's Road to Tokyo 2020

Softball has completed the Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification process. The six-team tournament will feature the host nation Japan, USA (the 2018 WBSC World Champions), Italy (winner of the Europe/Africa Qualifier), Mexico, Canada (winner and runner-up of the Americas Qualifier) and Australia (winner of the Asia/Oceania Qualifier).

Four of six teams have qualified for the Olympic baseball event at Tokyo 2020, including host Japan, Israel (the winner of the Europe/Africa Qualifier), Korea and Mexico (through the WBSC Premier12 2019). The remaining two teams will advance to the Games through the Americas Qualifier and the Final Qualifier.

The eight-team Americas Baseball Qualifier was scheduled from 22 to 26 March and has been postponed. The Final Qualifier, originally scheduled in early April, has also been postponed. The second- and third-place finishers of the Americas Qualifier will join Chinese Taipei, Australia, China and the Netherlands in the Final qualifier.