ICC Confirms To Bid For Cricket's Inclusion In The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

Click Here To Promote Anything On The Above Place

Mumbai, August 10, 2021: Cricket has been waiting to be included in Olympics for more than a century now. And now, the wait could see an end in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics as the International Cricket Council (ICC), on Tuesday (August 10), confirmed that it will bid for cricket's inclusion in the games.

The international cricket body has been making a case for cricket's inclusion in Olympics for a while now and it will also have backing from the richest cricket board BCCI as made clear by Secretary Jay Shah recently. The last time cricket was a part of the Olympics was in 1900, when Great Britain played France. And now, the world's one of the most followed sport, cricket could become a permanent fixture in the games with the ICC hoping to see it included in Brisbane 2032 as well and beyond.



Earlier, the BCCI was not too keen on cricket's including in the Olympic games as it feared the loss of its autonomy and interference from the Indian Olympic Association (IOC). However, things changed after Jay Shah took charge of the Board. He was recently quoted as the BCCI being on the same page with the ICC on the matter.

ICC chairman Greg Barclay said, "Firstly on behalf of everyone at the ICC, I would like to congratulate the IOC, Tokyo 2020, and the people of Japan for staging such an incredible Games in such difficult circumstances. It truly was fantastic to watch and captured the imagination of the world and we would love for cricket to be a part of future Games".

"Our sport is united behind this bid. And we see the Olympics as a part of cricket's long-term future. We have more than a billion fans globally and almost 90 percent of them want to see cricket at the Olympics. Clearly, cricket has a strong and passionate fanbase, particularly in South Asia where 92% of our fans come from, whilst there are also 30 million cricket fans in the USA. The opportunity for those fans to see their heroes competing for an Olympic medal is tantalizing".



"We believe cricket would be a great addition to the Olympic Games, but we know it won't be easy to secure our inclusion as there are so many other great sports out there wanting to do the same. But we feel now is the time to put our best foot forward and show what a great partnership cricket and the Olympics could be", Barclay added.

ECB chairman Ian Watmore will lead the ICC Olympic Working Group and he will be joined by the ICC independent director Indra Nooyi, chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket Tavengwa Mukuhlani, ICC Associate member director and vice-president of the Asian Cricket Council Mahinda Vallipuram and chair of USA Cricket Paraag Marathe, who believes the time is ripe for an Olympic bid.

Stay tuned...