Cricket at the 2028 Summer Olympics

Cricket at the Games of the Olympiad
Event details
Games	2028 Summer Olympics
Host country	United States
City	Los Angeles
Editions
← 1900 2032 →

Cricket will be reintroduced at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, United States. It will be the 2nd edition of the Olympic cricket tournament. Cricket was last played in Summer Olympics in 1900. It is expected to be as a Twenty20 tournament for both men and women.^[1]

Background

Cricket has had a history in the early Olympics. In the first modern Olympics in 1896 in Athens it was planned that cricket would be played as a medal sport but due to a lack of entries, the planned event did not occur.^[2] In 1900 in Paris, four teams entered: Great Britain (listed as England in posters advertising it and represented by Devon & Somerset Wanderers),^[2] France, Belgium and the Netherlands. However, only one match was played between Great Britain and France with Great Britain winning the two day match. The players did not realise this was an Olympic event until it was retrospectively recognized as one in 1912.^[2] Cricket was omitted from the Olympics at the 1904 Games and not considered for inclusion in the decades following.^[2]

For a large number of years, many of cricket's governing bodies, including the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), were long opposed to a return to the Olympics.^[3] The ECB withdrew their opposition in 2015,^[4] and in March 2017, it was reported that International Cricket Council chief Dave Richardson thought the "time is right" for Olympic cricket.^[5] It was also reported that the opposition of the BCCI had softened.^[6]

In October 2020, USA Cricket stated that it saw a proposed inclusion of cricket to the 2028 Summer Olympics program in Los Angeles as a long-term goal.^[7][8] In 2020, the BCCI in its Annual General Meeting decided to back the ICC's bid for inclusion of T20 cricket in 2028 after getting some clarifications from the International Olympic Committee.^[9][10][11] In August 2021, the ICC confirmed its plans to bid for the inclusion of cricket at the Olympics, starting with the 2028 and 2032 games.^[12]

On October 9, 2023, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee announced that cricket was on the list of sports they wished to introduce.^[13] On October 13, 2023, the IOC announced that the bid was accepted and placed under voting to finalize its inclusion in 2028 during the 141st IOC Session in Mumbai between October 14 to 16, 2023. It was confirmed on October 16, 2023 that cricket would be featured in the 2028 Olympics as only two voted against inclusion, including both men's and women's T20 tournaments.^{[14][15][16][17]}

See also

• Cricket at the Summer Olympics
• Cricket at the 1900 Summer Olympics
• 2028 ICC Men's T20 World Cup

References

1. "2028 Los Angeles Olympics: Cricket's inclusion voted through by IOC members". BBC Sport. October 16, 2023. Archived from the original on June 25, 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
2. "The Ignorant Olympians". ESPN. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
3. Kalra, Gaurav (June 23, 2014). "BCCI's opposition to Olympics cricket 'disappointing'". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on August 13, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
4. Gibson, Owen (July 14, 2015). "ECB drops opposition to T20 cricket being in Olympics, says MCC". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 13, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
5. Wigmore, Tom (July 25, 2017). "Cricket is on the verge of making its application for Olympic inclusion". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 7, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
6. Wigmore, Tom (July 24, 2017). "Women's World Cup success moves cricket closer to Olympic return in 2024". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
7. "USA Cricket plan to make country leading nation in the sport". Inside the Games. October 16, 2020. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
8. "USA Cricket targets ICC full member status by 2030". SportsPro Media. October 16, 2020. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
9. "With Powerful India's Support, Cricket Moves Closer To 2028 Los Angeles Olympics Inclusion". Forbes. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
10. "IPL 2022 teams: BBCI okays 10 team IPL from 2022, backs inclusion of cricket in the Olympics". The Times of India. December 24, 2020. Archived from the original on August 13, 2024. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
11. "BCCI Clears 10-Team IPL From 2022, Backs Cricket's Inclusion In Olympics | Cricket News". NDTVSports.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
12. "ICC confirms cricket's Olympic ambition". International Cricket Council. Archived from the original on September 10, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
13. Wharton, David (October 9, 2023). "L.A. names coveted five provisional sports it wants to add for 2028 Olympics". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 11, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
14. "T20 cricket confirmed as one of five new sports at LA28". ESPNcricinfo. October 16, 2023. Archived from the original on October 23, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
15. "IOC accepts recommendation to include T20 cricket in 2028 Los Angeles Olympics". ESPNcricinfo. October 13, 2023. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
16. "Cricket officially confirmed for LA Olympics 2028 | Cricbuzz.com". Cricbuzz. October 16, 2023. Archived from the original on October 27, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
17. "Cricket going for gold as Olympic Games inclusion confirmed for 2028". www.icc-cricket.com. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2023.