The IOC executive board accepted cricket for participation in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, bringing the sport’s more than 100-year Olympic exile to a stop.
Cricket approved by IOC: Following the second day of the executive board meeting on Friday in Mumbai, IOC President Thomas Bach announced that the IOC had accepted the LA organising committee’s proposal to add Twenty20 cricket to the list of five new sports, along with baseball/softball, flag football (a non-contact version of American football), squash, and lacrosse.
However, the IOC will vote on the final selection of the sports for the 2028 schedule on Monday in Mumbai, one of the cricketing capitals of the world, when India hosts the men’s 50-over Cricket World Cup.
According to Bach, it’s a terrific chance for the IOC to interact with new communities of athletes and fans.
“We see the growing popularity of T20 cricket, and we look forward to welcoming the world’s best players to the US in 2028,” he continued.
The Los Angeles Chiefs have proposed men’s and women’s T20 cricket tournaments featuring six teams, with the United States scheduled to field teams as the host nation.
But until and unless cricket receives formal ratification on Monday, no definite decision will be made regarding the number of teams or how they are qualified.
The last time cricket was a part of an Olympic event was in 1900 in Paris, where a British team defeated a French side.
With the support of the Olympic movement, the sport has been making progress towards a comeback at the Games for more than a decade.
Financially speaking, bringing cricket to the Olympic programming is a no-brainer.
It will draw admirers from nations like Pakistan and India by tapping into the wealthy South Asian market.
The shortest international format in cricket is T20.
Thanks to throngs of fans and huge media deals in a country where the sport is practically a religion, India has become the undisputed economic powerhouse of cricket thanks to the Indian Premier League, which features the game’s international giants.
Boxing’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympics is currently in doubt because the IOC denied the International Boxing Association recognition as a result of a disagreement over the sport’s organisational structure.
Since 1920, boxing has been a component of every Olympics, and it will be in Paris the following year.
We want boxing on the schedule, Bach remarked. “We have a problem with the governing body, not with boxing or boxers,” said the group.