LONDON (AP) ― Seven years after they were cut from the games, baseball and softball have agreed to merge into a single international federation in a joint bid to return to the Olympics.

The two sports, which were last played at the 2008 Beijing Games, each failed in separate attempts to win reinstatement for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

The heads of the two governing bodies said Saturday they plan to unite into the International Baseball and Softball Federation in hopes of increasing their chances of coming back for the 2020 Games.

A major obstacle still stands in the way ― getting major league baseball stars to play.

“Without that, we’ll have an uphill battle,” International Softball Federation president Don Porter told the Associated Press.