The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Friday accepted the recommendation to include T20 cricket in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics during its executive board meeting in Mumbai.
Now, IOC will have the voting at its ‘Session’, which will take place in Mumbai from October 14 to 16.
Earlier, the LA28 local organising committee has recommended for the inclusion of five new sports – cricket, baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse and squash – as new sports for the Games.
Addressing the media after the board meeting on Friday, IOC president Thomas Bach said all five sports were “in line” with the general ethos of the LA28.
“These proposals have been accepted as a package by the IOC executive board taking into consideration that these proposals and these sports are fully in line with the sports culture of our host in ’28, with the American sports culture,” Bach was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“They will showcase iconic American sports to the world while bringing at the same time international sports to the United States. The inclusion will, on the other hand, allow the Olympics to engage with new athletes and fan communities in the US and globally,” it added.
The ICC had recommended a six-team T20 event for both men and women during its presentation in front of LA28. The participating teams would comprise the top-six ranked sides in the ICC’s men’s and women’s T20 rankings on a cut-off date.
The reason behind ICC proposing the T20 format was that it’s the best format since both LA28 and the IOC had emphasised that the format should be one in which there is a world championship conducted.
Notbaly, cricket has featured only once in Olympics, 128 years before the proposed event at LA 2028. In Paris 1900, just one match was played where Britain beat hosts France to the gold medal. Back then, the game was played over two days and consisted of four innings like a first-class fixture.
