Cricket gets a shot in the arm as IOC approves it for 2028 LA Olympics

Cricket returns to Olympics after 128 yrs; LA28 Games to showcase sport to 2.5B fans. IOC & ICC worked 2 yrs to make it possible. Nita Ambani, IOC member from India, played key role. Cricket’s inclusion to benefit Olympic movement in India, increase viewership & knowledge sharing with BCCI.

Cricket’s return to the Olympics after 128 years at the 2028 Olympics Games was a foregone conclusion.

However, the LA Local Organising Committee’s (LALOG) proposal to include the sport, along with four others (squash, baseball/softball, lacrosse and flag football), failed to receive unanimous support at the International Olympic Committee’s 141st Session here as two of the 99 members voted against it.

“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 Committee Chairman Greg Barclay said.

The cricket event will be a six-team affair with IOC or the ICC yet to decide on a qualifier format.

There’s excitement among the LA organising committee about cricket’s presence in the Games and Italian Triple Olympic gold medallist and Sports Director LALOG Niccolo Campriani hoped cricket will help the Olympic movement find newer fans, tapping into the mass hysteria the sport generates in the Indian subcontinent.

“Think [about] my friend here Virat (Kohli). He’s the third-most followed athlete in the world on social media with 314 million followers. That’s more than LeBron James, Tom Brady and Tiger Woods combined. This is the ultimate win-win for LA 28,” Campriani said on the sidelines of the session.

“We are thrilled to welcome the world’s second-most popular sport with an estimated 2.5 billion fans worldwide.”