New Delhi: It was announced on Wednesday that the LA 2028 Olympic Games will include cricket, featuring six teams in both the men's and women's tournaments.
Cricket has been absent from the Olympics for more than a century, with its last appearance in 1900 during the Paris Games, where a single two-day match took place between Great Britain and France, now regarded as an unofficial Test.
At the LA 2028 Games, cricket will be played in the dynamic T20 format, with six teams competing in each tournament. A total of 90 athlete spots have been designated for both men and women, allowing each team to field a squad of 15 members, as reported by Olympic.com.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) comprises 12 'full members': Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the West Indies, and Zimbabwe, along with 94 'associate members' from other countries.
Currently, India holds the title of T20 world champions in the men's category, while New Zealand is the reigning champion in the women's category.
The International Olympic Committee's Executive Board (IOC EB) approved the event program and athlete quotas for LA 2028 on Wednesday.
Cricket is among five new sports set to debut at the upcoming Olympics. The IOC had previously sanctioned cricket's inclusion for LA28 two years ago, alongside baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes), and squash.
The specific venues for cricket at LA 2028 have yet to be determined, and the schedule will be finalized as the Games approach.
Cricket's addition to the LA28 Olympics reflects a rising trend of the sport being featured in various multi-sport competitions. A men's cricket tournament took place during the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, and the women's version made its debut at the Birmingham 2022 Games.
Both men's and women's tournaments, utilizing the widely popular T20 format, were included in the Asian Games in 2010, 2014, and 2023.
At the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, eight teams participated, while the Hangzhou Asian Games saw 14 teams in the men's event and nine teams in the women's competition.
