Five sports, including cricket and flag football, proposed for inclusion at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, have been approved by the International Olympic Committee executive board, leaving them with one last hurdle to seal their Olympic spots.
Organisers of the LA 2028 Games said this week they wanted cricket, flag football, lacrosse, squash and baseball-softball added to the event.
Each host city, under IOC rules approved a few years ago, can request the inclusion of several sports for their edition of the 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.
The IOC session, starting on Sunday, will now have to rubberstamp the board’s recommendation.
Cricket, which enjoys a massive appeal in India and a quickly growing global audience, is set for an Olympic return after appearing once at the 1900 Games.
While all five sports’ inclusion 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 going into the next four-year cycle.
India is also considering bidding for future Olympics.
The Los Angeles Games proposal is for a six-team Twenty20 cricket tournament for men and women. T20 is a short format of the game.
“The inclusion (of these sports) … will allow the Olympic movement to engage with new athletes and fan communities in the United States and globally,” Bach said.
“We see the growing popularity of cricket, particularly the T20 format.”
(Photo by Matt Roberts – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
“We are ready to welcome the world’s best players of cricket to perform in the United States in 2028.”
While all five sports’ inclusion 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 going into the next four-year cycle.
Flag football is a non-contact format of American football played by teams of five.
Baseball was featured in several previous Games.
It was added to the 2020 Tokyo program after being left off in 2012 and 2016, but it will not be a part of the Paris Games.
Softball, the female counterpart to baseball, has appeared at five previous editions of the Summer Games and was also left off the Paris agenda.
Newshttps://https://ift.tt/oSstaPH Cricket among five sports added to 2028 LA Olympics as IOC aims to ‘engage with new athletes and fans’
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