Cricket’s entry into the LA28 has been accepted by the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Executive Board (EB). It is the next phase in getting the sport back into the Olympics. The recommendation was sent by the EB to the IOC Session, which is scheduled for Monday in Mumbai. The last step will be permission from the IOC session; the organizing committee for LA28 will first formally propose to the IOC its participation in the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board (EB) has proposed five sports—baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes), and squash—as extra events for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (LA28), in addition to the Twenty20 format of cricket.
“These additional sports were proposed by the LA28 Organising Committee, for its edition of the Games only, and were reviewed by the Olympic Programme Commission (OPC) before being put forward to the EB,” a statement issued by the IOC on Friday (October 13).
Cricket, which was included in the Olympic Games scheduled for Paris 1900, is a sport with over 2.5 billion global fans and is a great way to interact with new people and cultures, especially the expanding Indian community in the US. A new major professional league called Major League Cricket was recently introduced in the USA, and cricket has a large social media following. Additionally, the USA will host the men’s T20 Cricket World Cup in 2024. The format for cricket that would be played at LA28 is T20, including men’s and women’s competitions,” the IOC stated.
The insider account of how cricket received approval for its inclusion from the LA28 Organising Committee was published by Cricbuzz on Wednesday.
“I have long held the opinion that making the most captivating video games for the entire world—not just for ourselves—is our greatest chance here in Los Angeles. Since we started looking at sports about 18 months ago, cricket has been on our list of sports to investigate, LA 28 Chair Casey Wasserman recently told this website.
