Cricket to be part of 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Cricket and flag football were among five sports added to the programme for the 2028 Los Angeles Games on Monday after being approved by the International Olympic Committee as it looks to tap into new global audiences. Lacrosse, squash and baseball-softball were also approved at an IOC meeting in Mumbai, having been proposed by 2028 organisers. "Cricket has evolved very, very much over recent years," IOC President Thomas Bach told reporters. "We have seen the growing international importance of cricket and the Olympic Games want to incorporate the most popular sports worldwide." Cricket, which enjoys a massive following in India and has a fast growing global audience, returns to the Games after more than a century, having appeared once at the 1900 Olympics, with a proposed six-team Twenty20 format – the shortest international format of the game – for both women and men. "To have the opportunity to showcase our great sport at the LA28 Games and hopefully many Olympic Games to come will be great for players and fans alike," International Cricket Council Chairman Greg Barclay said. The IOC hopes cricket's inclusion will activate and engage a large, new Olympic audience, with the sport's worldwide fan base estimated at 2.5 billion people. While all five sports' inclusion is for only one edition of the Games, they are banking on the boost provided by participation to spur growth and 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. American football last featured as a demonstration sport in the 1932 LA Games. Baseball has featured in several previous Games. It was added to the 2020 Tokyo programme after being left out 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. Lacrosse twice appeared as a medal sport at the Olympics, in 1904 and 1908, while squash had long pushed for inclusion, most recently in 2013 for the 2020 Olympics. (Reuters)