IOC approves sweeping reform package

The International Olympic Committee approved a wide-ranging reform package at the 127th session in Monaco on Dec. 8, including a more affordable bidding process, the creation of an Olympic television channel and a more flexible sports program that could bring baseball and softball into the 2020 Tokyo Games.

The committee also approved the rewording of its Principle 6 on nondiscrimination to include sexual orientation — a move that followed the controversy over Russia's law against gay ‘propaganda' ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The committee voted in favor of the new rules on the opening day of a special two-day session to adopt the 40-point "Olympic Agenda 2020" program of its president, Thomas Bach. They represent the biggest changes in the IOC in decades.