In five years everyone will be ready to glue themselves to the TV to follow the sports that have already been an Olympic novelty since yesterday. The IOC, meeting in Mumbai, gave the final approval to the inclusion of cricket (in its ‘short’ version of the Twenty20), baseball, lacrosse, flag football and squash in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic programme. It is clear that they have made their case the United States, organizers of the 2028 Games, and India which also wants to establish itself as a new global superpower through sport and, not surprisingly, aims to organize the 2036 Olympics in Mumbai.
It must be said that the 5 ‘new’ sports do not have much following in the old continent, but for two billion people it is instead an epochal day.
Cricket is the most loved sport in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; and one of the most practiced from Great Britain to Australia.
Baseball, together with basketball and American football, is the most followed sport in North America but also has a large following in Japan, South Korea, Cuba and Caribbean countries.
Lacrosse is a team sport, popular in North America, particularly in universities. It’s a sort of field hockey played with rackets. The squash issue is painful for the old continent: it is one of the symbols of the American way of life, but it does not have global diffusion. It competes with padel, which is widespread throughout Europe. Finally, there is flag football: it is a team sport similar in many respects to American football but quite widespread in universities, it does not involve contact between players. The latter, however, carry two flags on their belts which must be torn down by their opponents. Thanks to this mode it is possible to play in mixed mode (man-woman).
2023-10-17 03:51:52
#Olympic #Games #cricket #baseball #features #Los #Angeles
