The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has accepted the proposal to include cricket in the Los Angeles Olympics 2028. The IOC took this decision at its executive board meeting in Mumbai on Friday.
IOC President Thomas Bach said- Officials have accepted the proposal of Los Angeles Olympic organizers to include cricket as one of the five new sports.
But before deciding whether to include all the new sports in the 2028 Games, IOC members will vote, which will take place in Mumbai from October 14 to 16. Among the 5 sports, T-20 format of cricket has been chosen along with baseball/softball, flag football, squash and lacrosse.
Cricket is getting involved because of India
A few days ago it was said in a report – We had told in July itself that the entry of cricket in the Los Angeles Olympic Games is absolutely certain. The reason for this is that the Olympic Committee is in no position to ignore India’s approximately 1.5 billion population and its financial resources. However, there were many problems in the negotiations between the Los Angeles Committee and the IOC.
According to this report – Currently, Olympic broadcasting rights in India are based on individual games and their market value is approximately 2 million dollars. This figure has been fixed for the Paris Olympics 2024. However, market experts believe that if India’s cricket matches are included, this figure can easily be many times higher.
Cricket played twice in Commonwealth
Cricket has also been included in the Commonwealth Games twice, in 1998 and 2022. Cricket got a place in the Asian Games thrice in 2010, 2014 and 2023.
Entry of flag football also
The world knows about football. Now flag football is going to be given entry for Los Angeles Olympics 2028. According to the report, in flag football, both the teams have five players each and it is called the American variant of football.
The inclusion of baseball and softball will not only increase revenue but will also promote team sports. However, the problem is that with the inclusion of four new games, the duration of the games will increase significantly. It is believed that the Olympic Committee will compensate for this by reducing the medal events of some sports and the duration of the Olympic Games will not be increased too much.
Source: dainikbhaskarup.com
: Language Inputs
This post is sourced from newspapers, magazines and third-party websites. For more information please check NewsDay Express Disclaimer.
