It’s official! Cricket will return to Olympics after 128 years after the International Olympic Committee officially green-signalled inclusion of cricket and squash for LA28. With that, Cricket will mark a return for the first time since 1900 Paris Olympics. Los Angles 2028 Olympics will be the first edition of modern cricket which will be played in T20 format.
Cricket and Squash apart from flag football, baseball and softball and lacrosse were recommended for Olympic inclusion earlier this week.
At the IOC’s executive committee meeting chaired by president Thomas Bach, both cricket and squash got the green signal.
“The proposal of the Los Angeles Organising Committee to introduce five new sports and these five sports are baseball and softball, flag football, lacrosse, squash and cricket – these proposals have been accepted as a package by the IOC executive board taking into consideration that these proposals,” Thomas Bach said.
The hinderance for cricket was not just timings but also non-compliance of WADA and BCCI.
However, BCCI finally gave the nod and ICC too adopted WADA’s anti-doping policies in 2016. With women’s cricket also becoming popular, it made way to the Olympics.
In the last Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, cricket made a return. CWG had only women’s cricket while Asian Games had both men’s and women’s with India Cricket Team winning gold mdeals in both categories.
“These sports are fully in line with the sports culture of our host in 2028 with the American sports culture, they will showcase iconic American sports to the World while bringing at the same time international sports to the United States. They inclusion will, on the other hand, allow the Olympic Movement to engage with new athletes and fan communities in the US and globally. The IOC EB also reviewed the status of the three sports that were not part of the initial sports programme for LA 2028,” Thomas Bach added.
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