2028 Los Angeles Olympics: IOC Session approves inclusion of cricket, 4 other sports
Cricket was part of the Olympic Games programme at Paris 1900, and now makes a return to the Olympics after more than 120 years.
Cricket and four other sports were on Monday (October 16) officially included for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in the US.
The proposal to include the five sports for LA28 was accepted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at its session in Mumbai. Cricket will be play in the Twenty20 format.
"The proposal from the Organising Committee of the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 to include five new sports in the programme has been accepted by the IOC Session. Baseball/softball, cricket (T20), flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash will be in the programme at LA28," IOC said.
Cricket was part of the Olympic Games programme at Paris 1900, and now makes a return to the Olympics after more than 120 years.
"Cricket has more than 2.5 billion fans worldwide and represents an invaluable opportunity to engage with new countries and communities, including the growing Indian community in the US.
"Cricket brings a vast social media following, the men’s 2024 Cricket T20 World Cup will be hosted in the USA, and a new major professional league, Major League Cricket, was recently launched in the USA. T20 – with a men’s and a women’s tournament – is the format that would be played at LA28," IOC said.
IOC President Thomas Bach said, “The choice of these five new sports is in line with the American sports culture and will showcase iconic American sports to the world while bringing international sports to the United States. These sports will make the Olympic Games LA28 unique.
“Their inclusion will allow the Olympic Movement to engage with new athlete and fan communities in the US and globally.”