Sadayuki Sakakibara, former chairman of Keidanren, has been appointed as a new commissioner of professional baseball.

A professional baseball owners' meeting was held, and Sadayuki Sakakibara, the former chairman of Keidanren, was appointed as the new commissioner.

The meeting was held in Tokyo and was attended by the owners of the 12 teams and their acting owners.

The owner of the giant Toshikazu Yamaguchi, who chaired the meeting, revealed at a press conference after the event that Mr. Sakakibara had been appointed as a new commissioner.

According to the owner Yamaguchi, the current Commissioner Atsushi Saito announced in November last year that he intends to retire in December, so a committee has been set up to proceed with the selection process.

At the meeting on the 21st, Mr. Sakakibara, a former chairman of Toray, a major textile and chemical manufacturer, and also the chairman of Keidanren, was unanimously decided.

Regarding the reason for the selection, the owner Yamaguchi explained, "Most of the opinions were that it was important to work on expanding the business of professional baseball. It was desirable to have a lot of management experience."

Mr. Sakakibara will be appointed as the 15th commissioner on December 5th.

Commissioner Saito said, "I want to secure measures against the new coronavirus and execution of the game until I retire. I was able to hold the Olympics even though I was not an audience. I did.

On the other hand, in the world of spheres, new coronavirus infections are occurring one after another, but regarding the All-Star Game to be held on the 26th and 27th of this month, the owner Yamaguchi said, "I will definitely do it. Will come out as planned. "