Cricket out of the race for 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

For all those who were anticipating cricket’s appearance in Olympics 2028 will have to wait longer as the sport has officially failed to make it to the multi-sporting event, next to be held in Los Angeles, USA.

According to fresh reports, the International Olympics Committee (IOC) has conveyed the same to the International Cricket Council to prepare a fresh pitch for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. Reports have claimed that ICC is forming a new committee in place and BCCI secretary Jay Shah, representative of Indian cricket at ICC, will chair it going forward.  

According to K Shriniwas Rao, senior sports journalist in India the development has come as a major embarrassment for the ICC. “This is egg on the face. An embarrassment. Cricket’s pitch to be at the Olympics was in fact a pretty weak one,” he tweeted. 

Notably, IOC in August, 2022 shortlisted cricket for a review along with eight other sporting disciplines – baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, break dancing, karate, kickboxing, squash and motorsports.

In February 2022, the IOC claimed that a total of 28 sporting events will be part of the Los Angeles Games.

According to IOC norms, a sports eligibility stands on a few parameters as priorities – cost and complexity reduction, engaging the best athletes and sports with safety and health first, global first, global appeal host country interest, gender equality, youth relevance, upholding integrity and fairness to support clean sports, and long-term sustainability.

Notably, Women’s cricket featured in Commonwealth Games 2022 for the first time in the T20 format. Australian Women clinched the Gold medal after beating Indian Women.