The International Olympic Committee Executive Board has put forward the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee’s proposal to include cricket in the 2028 LA Olympics to the IOC Session, increasing cricket’s chances of making a comeback at the Olympics.
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The 2028 Olympic Games will be played in Los Angeles. Organisers of the Games have pushed for the inclusion of cricket, along with four other sports.
The International Olympic Committee has accepted the proposal of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for the inclusion of cricket, along with flag football, lacrosse, squash, and baseball-softball in the 2028 LA Olympic games.
“These proposals have been accepted as a package by they IOC Executive Board,” IOC President Thomas Bach told a press conference at the end of the executive board meeting.
Following a review by the Olympic Programme Commission, the IOC Executive Board puts the @LA28 Organising Committee’s additional sports proposal to the IOC Session.
Baseball/softball, cricket (T20), flag football, lacrosse (sixes), and squash are the 5 sports submitted. pic.twitter.com/pL6IOn87Jj
— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) October 13, 2023
According to Reuters, cricket has ‘one last hurdle’ to cross before it is officially confirmed to be a part of the 2028 LA Olympics. The IOC session, starting on Sunday, will need to approve the board’s recommendation following which cricket’s comeback at the Olympics will be official.
The last time cricket was part of the Olympic games was way back in 1900. Only two teams participated then – hosts France and Great Britain. Great Britain won gold in a two-day, 12-a-side match where both teams batted twice.
If cricket is indeed played at Los Angeles 2028, it will be played in the T20 format. The guidelines of the Olympics state that a sport can only be included if a world championship has been conducted (which rules out T10), and if it has a compact duration (which eliminates both Test cricket and ODIs).
The inclusion of cricket in the 2028 Olympics is expected to boost the broadcast rights of the event in India by around 10 times. The rights for the 2024 Paris Olympics have been sold to India for 15 million pounds. Cricket’s inclusion in the Los Angeles Games can see that figure go up to 150 million pounds instead.
