Last Updated on 2 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Will there be cricket in the 2028 Olympics? | Chance of a six-team T20 event for the 2028 LA Olympics
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has proposed a six-team T20 event to be a part of the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 as the governing body continues its push to include the sport in the quadrennial event. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will take a final decision on this matter by October 2023 after the LA28 organisers file in a list of new sports by March this year.
The ICC is still in talks over the tournament structure with the LA28 and it is possible that the six top-ranked teams in their rankings at the time of a cutoff date will qualify for the possible Olympic event.
T10 and ODI formats ruled out of contention for possible cricket event at 2028 LA Olympics
The LA28 and IOC have apparently communicated to the ICC that the competition format should be such in which there takes place a world championship and is also compact simultaneously. The first factor ruled out the option of conducting an event in T10 format whereas the latter pushed ODIs out of contention.
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Meanwhile, the IOC is also looking to ensure that the cricket events for both the men and the women’s categories take place at a single venue only. This will help in cost-reduction considering the sizable contingents that will possibly travel with every squad and multiple training pitches are required for preparation purposes.
There is also a precedent for this as all the matches of the women’s T20 event in the Commonwealth Games in 2022 took place at Edgbaston only.
Cricket is involved in a tussle with eight other sports, namely: squash, karate, kickboxing, break dancing, motorsport, lacrosse, baseball/softball and flag football to make the cut for the 2028 Olympics, ESPN Cricinfo reports.
The move to ensure that no more than six teams participate from each discipline is also a step as per the IOC’s plan to reduce the headcount of total contingents in order to save their expenditures. The first consequence of the same will be witnessed in the Paris Olympics in 2024 where the total number of athletes will be down to 10,500 from 11,300 in the Tokyo Games.
