Nippon Professional Baseball's owners have signed off on a policy of interrupting the 2020 season while the Tokyo Olympics are taking place.
"We will support the Olympics — a national event — in every way," Hanshin Tigers owner Shinya Sakai said after NPB Owners Meeting convened on Monday.
Although the length of the Olympic break has yet to be determined, the policy was agreed to at an executive committee meeting a week earlier. The Owners Meeting is NPB's ultimate decision-making body.
The owners' stance is seen as an incentive for the International Olympic Committee, which will vote in August on whether baseball and softball tournaments will be included in the Tokyo 2020 Games.
If baseball is included in 2020, the games are expected to be played mainly at Yokohama Stadium.