Organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics "on Friday got a unanimous green light" from the IOC "to hold part of the baseball and softball competitions at a stadium in Fukushima Prefecture," according to KYODO. Showing "support for efforts to help rebuild the areas hit by the earthquake and tsunami disaster" in March '11, the IOC exec board "approved the use of Azuma Stadium, a 30,000-seat outdoor venue located in the prefectural capital city of Fukushima," more than 200km northeast of Tokyo. The 2020 Games organizers proposed to include the 31-year-old Azuma Stadium as a secondary venue for baseball and softball, in addition to Yokohama Stadium which will be the primary venue, "under the premise that it be renovated" (KYODO, 3/17). XINHUA reported the stadium will "likely be used for Japan's opening games." Sources added that the location of the events is "hoped to ensure the plight of the people of Fukushima remains in the international spotlight, as well as give hope to and encourage the people who live in the disaster-hit prefecture" (XINHUA, 3/17). The BBC reported the city is about 100km from the nuclear plant hit by the tsunami "that caused a triple meltdown." It was the "worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster" in '86 (BBC, 3/17).
