MUMBAI: Twenty20 cricket for men and women will be part of the Olympic Games in 2028 in Los Angeles once the 141st Session of the International Olympic Committee gives its final approval on Monday to a proposal put forth by the American organisers of the Games.
The proposal to include cricket (T20) along with baseball softball, squash, lacrosse (sixes) and flag football, a limited contact version of American Football, as additional sports for the Los Angeles Olympic Games cleared a major hurdle on Friday when the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) sent the proposal for voting by the IOC session starting here on Monday.
The IOC EB has accepted as a package the proposal by Los Angeles to include squash, baseball/softball, flag football and lacrosse (six-a-side).
The proposal will be sent for approval to the IOC Session and is likely to come up on Monday.
If approved, cricket will return to the Olympics for the first time since 1900 when it was part of the programme in Paris.
According to recent trends in the IOC, getting the approval seems a formality as the IOC Session has approved similar packages for the Tokyo and Paris Games.
As per the initial proposal, approval has been given for a six-team competition per gender but according to Kit McConnell, Sports Director, IOC, the number of teams and qualification programme will be finalised by early 2025. IANS
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