IOC Approves Inclusion Of Cricket In Los Angeles 2028 Olympics

The International Olympic Committee has approved the inclusion of cricket for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics announced IOC President Thomas Bach. He chaired the Executive Board meeting at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai.

Sports Director of the International Olympic Committee, in a press conference, said that the Los Angeles Committee has proposed five games which can be a part of the 2028 Summer Olympics. The five sports included cricket (T20), baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes), and squash.

The inclusion of cricket in the Olympics has been awaited for the last 128 years. Cricket made its Olympic debut in the 1,900 Paris games. The International Cricket Council (ICC) released an official statement on October 9 to announce its proposal to include cricket in the Summer Olympics.

The Chairman of ICC, Greg Barclay was quoted by ICC stating, 'We are delighted that LA28 have recommended cricket for inclusion in the Olympics. Whilst this is not the final decision, it is a very significant landmark towards seeing cricket at the Olympics for the first time in more than a century. I'd like to thank LA28 for their support during the new sport evaluation process over the last two years and we look forward to the final decision being taken at the IOC Session, in India, during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup next week.'

Jio World Centre released a statement on October 13 stating that the 141st session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be held at Jio World Center in Mumbai from October 15-17, 2023 which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Apart from this, many celebrities from India and abroad related to sports will participate in the event.

On October 12, the Executive Board of the IOC decided to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) with immediate effect. The decision was taken after the ROC decided to include the regional sports organisation of Ukraine (Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia) as its member, as per the IOC.