The office of the commissioner of Japanese baseball confirmed Thursday that Major League Baseball has decided not to open the 2002 regular season with games in Japan.
"For various reasons, we have decided not to open the 2002 season in Japan," read an MLB statement received by the commissioner's office on Thursday.
Negotiations between the owners and the Major League Baseball players' association on a new labor agreement, which are expected to continue into the new year, was cited by a Japanese baseball official as a possible reason for the decision.
The New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs opened the 2000 regular season in Japan with a pair of games at the Tokyo Dome.
While no formal announcement had been made as to which teams might have come to Japan for 2002, many speculated that the Seattle Mariners, with Japanese stars Ichiro Suzuki and Kazuhiro Sasaki, would be one of the teams.
The NBA canceled a pair of preseason games between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors scheduled for Oct. 13-14 in Tokyo after the terrorist attacks in the United States.