The game of cricket has officially failed to make it to the Olympics 2028, scheduled to be held in Los Angeles, USA. The International Olympics Committee (IOC) has conveyed the same to the International Council and now, the global cricketing body has to make a fresh pitch for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
The BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who also represents the Indian cricket board at the ICC, will lead the new Olympics committee that the ICC is currently establishing.
At the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, only Great Britain and the host nation of France participated in the sport of cricket. Cricket was among eight other sports that the IOC had selected for review in August of last year. Baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, breakdancing, karate, kickboxing, squash, and motorsport are the other eight sports up for the main event.
The IOC said in February 2022 that the Los Angeles Games will feature a total of 28 sporting events and that “possible new sports” will be taken into consideration with an emphasis on children.
As per IOC diktat, a sport should clear some set of criteria in order to be considered for inclusion.
Reduced costs and complexity were given top priority, along with worldwide appeal, enthusiasm from the host nation, gender equality, young relevance, upholding honesty and fairness to support clean sports, and long-term sustainability.
Cricket was being featured in the Commonwealth Games 2022 with the women’s T20 format being played among eight nations. However, for a sporting event to be featured at the Olympic Games, it must be for both men and women.