The organizers of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles have presented their official list of proposals for the inclusion of new sports in the program ahead of the IOC session in Mumbai. Californians want baseball/softball, flag football, cricket, lacrosse and squash for the Summer Games in five years. “The sports proposed by LA28 are relevant, innovative and widespread. Across the USA and around the world they are played in gardens, schoolyards, community centers, stadiums and parks,” said OC board member Casey Wassermann: “They are becoming new ones “Bringing athletes to the Games and expanding the fan base and leveraging the Games’ presence in the digital space.”
The sports were each tested under the requirements set by the IOC. Lacrosse was on the program more than a hundred years ago, at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis and the 1908 Games in London. Cricket was only played in Paris in 1900. Baseball and softball have already been part of the program several times, most recently at the Games in Tokyo 2021. Flag football, a disembodied version of American football, would be performed for the first time at the Olympics.
However, a suggestion does not guarantee acceptance. Squash, for example, has already applied four times in vain. It remains to be seen whether a final decision will be made at the IOC session in Mumbai from Thursday.
