The men’s football final at the 2020 Tokyo Games "could be moved from the new national stadium." The bid plan had the final during the day and athletics in the evening of Aug. 8 at the venue. Scheduling congestion was reportedly "pointed out during a meeting" between the Tokyo organizers and the IOC’s Coordination Commission (KYODO, 6/30).
Japan's first games in baseball and softball will be held in Fukushima at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with the first-round format in baseball "likely to settle on two groups of three." While the World Baseball Softball Confederation has pushed -- "and still is" -- for a round-robin format in baseball, "it appears the organizers' plan for a group competition will win out in the end." IOC VP John Coates said, "We decided that there will be no change, and there's no proposal from the IOC of any change to what has been agreed" (KYODO, 6/30).
Japan began introducing bilingual traffic signs on Saturday "as the number of foreign visitors increases ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics." By the time the Games open, about 35,000 of the 140,000 stop signs in the capital "will have been replaced with ones in both Japanese and English near the Olympic venues and in other areas," the Metropolitan Police Department said. Along with the new stop signs, "bilingual slow-down signs will also be introduced" (KYODO, 7/1).
