Five sports, including cricket and flag football, will be included in the 2028 Los Angeles Games after gaining approval from the International Olympic Committee.
Lacrosse, squash and baseball-softball, proposed for inclusion by LA Games organizers, also received approval at an IOC meeting in Mumbai on Monday.
Each host city, under IOC rules, can request the inclusion of different sports for its edition of the games.
The five sports had already received the OK from the powerful IOC executive committee last week, with Monday’s session approving its recommendation. All five sports were voted as a single package with two “no” votes from approximately 90 IOC members in the room.
Cricket, which enjoys a huge following in India and a rapidly growing global audience, returns to the games after more than a century, having appeared once in the 1900 Olympics.
The LA Games proposal includes a six-team Twenty20 cricket tournament for men and women.
The IOC hopes that the inclusion of cricket will activate and engage a large new Olympic audience, especially Asian fans of the sport.
The annual Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament, with an estimated brand value of $8.4 billion, is one of the richest sporting leagues in the world and continues to attract the world’s best players and coaches. The tournament is played in the same T20 format that the game will feature in LA 2028.
India, which currently hosts the 50-over Cricket World Cup, will bid to host the 2036 Olympics.
International Cricket Council president Greg Barclay said he was “excited” about cricket’s inclusion in 2028.
“Having the opportunity to showcase our great sport at the 28th Games in Los Angeles and hopefully many Olympic Games to come will be fantastic for both players and fans,” he said.
In the same statement, Mithali Raj, former Indian women’s cricket captain and all-time leading run-scorer, said the news is exciting for the sport.
“Players will have the chance to compete for an Olympic gold medal and take part in games that will be so special,” he said. “It’s also an opportunity for more fans around the world to enjoy our great sport.”
While the inclusion of all five sports is only for one edition of the games, they are banking on the boost provided by Olympic participation to spur growth as they look to remain an attractive Olympic product well into the next four-year cycle.
Flag football is a non-contact format of American football played by teams of five. American football was last featured as a demonstration sport at the 1932 Los Angeles Games.
Baseball has been featured in several previous Olympics. It was added to the Tokyo 2020 program after being discontinued in 2012 and 2016, but will not be part of the Paris Games.
Softball, baseball’s women’s counterpart, has appeared in five previous editions of the Summer Games and was left off the Paris 2024 agenda.
Lacrosse has twice appeared as a medal sport at the Olympics, in 1904 and 1908. It will be played in a six-on-six format at Los Angeles 2028.
Squash will make its debut after several previous bids for Olympic status failed.
There was no space for breakdancing, which will not return after making its Olympic debut in Paris next year.
Meanwhile, boxing’s status at the 2028 Games remains uncertain after the IOC stripped the International Boxing Association (IBA) of its recognition following a dispute over how the sport is governed. Boxing has been part of every Olympics since 1920 and will feature at next year’s Paris Games.
But in June, the IBA was effectively expelled from the Olympic movement following a bitter dispute between its Russian president, Umar Kremlev, and the IOC.
This, after concerns over the credibility of IBA-sanctioned tournaments, as well as the finances and governance of boxing’s governing body.
2023-10-20 22:14:02
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