The Pacific and Central Leagues will continue to debate whether or not to postpone the start of the new season scheduled to begin on March 25 after representatives of Japan's 12 professional baseball clubs failed to reach an agreement at a meeting Tuesday, Nippon Professional Baseball said.
The PL wants to postpone its season-opening games following last Friday's devastating earthquake that hit northeastern Japan, but the Central League wants to go ahead and hold its games scheduled the same day.
NPB commissioner Ryozo Kato said he hoped a swift decision would be reached on when the next round of talks will be held, but no date has been set.
Sendai, which is home to the Rakuten Eagles, is one of the areas hit hardest by the quake. The Eagles were scheduled to meet the Lotte Marines for the season opener at Kleenex Stadium, which was damaged in the 9.0 magnitude temblor. A total of six night games in both the Central and Pacific leagues were set for March 25.
''Some (in the PL) thought the season should start on the 25th and others were of the opinion that it would be difficult,'' said Rakuten acting owner Tomoharu Inoue. ''The CL teams had their own thoughts but at this stage I don't think there is any way we can hold the season opener in Sendai (on schedule).''
Chunichi Dragons team representative Norihiro Nishiwaki said he saw no reason why the season had to begin on the same day for both leagues.
''There is no reason to stick to that. The most important thing is that the 12 teams reach an agreement.''
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