IOC vice president John Coates says he is pleased with the list of proposed additional sports for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and that a petition by skateboarders not to have their sport included was likely the result of a misunderstanding.
Baseball-softball, surfing, skateboarding, karate and sports climbing were recommended for inclusion last month by the Tokyo organizing committee.
More than 5,000 skateboarders have signed an online petition calling for their sport not to be recognized as an Olympic event, saying it should not be exploited and transformed to fit into the Olympic program.
A final decision on which sport or sports to add to the Tokyo program will be made by the International Olympic Committee next August.
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