Delhi: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has welcomed the announcement that the Fairground 2028 in Pomona, Southern California will host cricket at the Los Angeles Olympics (LA28). The enthusiasm over the return of cricket to the Olympics has been over since it was confirmed that the game would be included in the Olympic Games again after a long gap of 128 years.
On 9 April, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed the number of player Kota and participating teams for cricket at the 2028 Olympics. Many legendary players expressed their enthusiasm about the possibility of officially joining the Olympic Games and competing for the gold medal in LA28.
Six teams will participate in both male and female T20 events, for which the quota of 90 players per class has been determined. Each country will be able to take off a team of 15 players. The schedule of the entire tournament will be released near the commencement of the Olympic Games.
ICC chairman Jai Shah said, “We welcome the announcement of the venue of cricket in Los Angeles 2028, as it is an important step towards the preparations for the return of our game in the Olympics.”
He added, “Although cricket is already a very popular sport, but its involvement will give a great opportunity to spread it even outside the traditional boundaries, especially through fast and exciting T20 formats, which will attract new audiences.”
Cricket’s return to the Olympics was confirmed in October 2023, when the Los Angeles Olympics also included five other games – baseball/softball, flag football, lacros (sixes) and squash.
Significantly, cricket was last attended in the Olympic Games in 1900, when only two teams in the Paris Olympics were contested between England and France. Cricket has never been a part of the Olympics since then. In such a situation, its return to 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is not only historic, but it is also a golden opportunity to make cricket more popular globally.
Related news
(Tagstotranslate) ICC (T) La28 (T) Olympics 2028