The International Olympic Committee has informed the International Cricket Council that cricket won't be featured during the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, according to media reports.
There has been no official confirmation about this either from the IOC, ICC or the BCCI. The reports also state that the ICC will now prepare a new pitch for the 2032 Olympics and form a new committee regarding the same, which will be headed by BCCI President Jay Shah. It is worth noting that it was only the 1900 Paris Olympic Games that witnessed the game of cricket. Great Britain and France were the only participants.
In February 2022, the International Olympic Committee announced that the Los Angeles Games would include 28 different sporting events while adding that new sports would also be considered. In August of the previous year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had selected cricket as one of the nine sports to be evaluated for inclusion in the Olympics. Baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, break dancing, karate, kickboxing, squash, and motorsport were the other games.
Several factors are taken into consideration for any sport to feature at the Olympic level. Things such as the interest of the host country, youth & global appeal and so on. It also doesn't help that cricket as a game is dominated by just a few teams like India, England and Australia. It is worth noting that Commonwealth Games 2022 featured a Women's T20 competition.
If the 2028 Olympics is indeed out of question, it will be interesting to see if BCCI and ICC can successfully pitch for the 2032 games.
Also Read
