LAUSANNE - Basketball is among the 25 sports the Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is to propose to the 125th IOC Session for approval as the core sports for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

Joining basketball on the shortlist are: athletics, rowing, badminton, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, weightlifting, handball, hockey, judo, swimming, modern pentathlon, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis, shooting, archery, triathlon, sailing and volleyball.

FIBA hopes the magnitude of basketball at the Olympics will already be felt in 2016 at the Rio Games. The International Basketball Federation applied to have the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament increased to 16 teams (compared to 12) and also submitted a bid to have its fast-paced 3x3 discipline be included in the basketball programme.

The EB recommended that wrestling, governed by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA), not be included on the list of core sports. Wrestling will now join the seven shortlisted sports – baseball/softball, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, wakeboarding and wushu – vying for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic programme as an additional sport.

FIBA