Baseball and softball finished second in the voting - only behind wrestling - on that occasion, but are now hoping to take advantage of the outcomes of the Olympic Agenda 2020 reform process and feature at Tokyo 2020 after all.

Castro will now have an expanded role within the WBSC, and will have a seat - without vote - on the body's Executive Board.

Meanwhile, the WBSC has appointed Edward Colbert of the Washington DC office of law firm Kenyon & Kenyon LLP, considered by Fortune 500 companies as one of the most elite intellectual property law firms in the world, as its general counsel.

Edward Colbert has been appointed as the WBSC's general counsel ©WBSC/Facebook


He helped create the United States Olympic Committee licensing programme and was involved in the licensing of Olympic marketing rights in the United States and certain related global rights for the national Olympic teams.

He also serves as an arbitrator on the International Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne and for the American Arbitration Association.

The WBSC Executive Committee has also appointed Italian Vincenzo La Rocca as a member of the WBSC Legal Commission.

He oversaw legal proceedings at the first-ever WBSC Congress last year, which saw the formal merger of baseball and softball's two independent international sport federations.

Baseball and softball are widely considered as favourites for inclusion at Tokyo 2020, although they do face competition from the likes of karate, surfing, squash, billiard sports and skateboarding, which also want to appear at the Games.

It was announced today that a decision on new sports will be confirmed in 2016.

Castro, Colbert and La Rocca will assume their positions within the WBSC leadership immediately.

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