Los Angeles Olympics 2028 Archives

Pakistan likely to miss out on cricket event at 2028 Olympics: reports

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has reportedly finalised the qualification pathway for the cricket event at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, and early signs indicate Pakistan may not feature in the men’s competition.

As per British media reports, the ICC, following discussions at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Singapore, has opted for a regional qualification model.

The approach, which also has the backing of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is aimed at ensuring continental representation and boosting cricket’s global footprint.

The men’s T20 competition at LA 2028 will feature six teams. One of those spots has already been allocated to the host nation, the United States.

Under the proposed format, the top-ranked teams from each continent will secure direct qualification, likely to include India (Asia), Australia (Oceania), South Africa (Africa), and Great Britain (Europe).

That leaves Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand, despite their stature in world cricket, out of automatic contention for the 2028 Olympics.

Reports suggest that both Pakistan and New Zealand have raised concerns over the format, but the decision is unlikely to be overturned, pending formal ratification by the ICC board.

Only one spot will remain after the five probable qualifiers are locked in.

The ICC is yet to decide how this final berth will be awarded, with speculation that it could be handed to a representative team from the Caribbean Islands, similar to the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where Barbados represented the region.

Both men’s and women’s events at LA 2028 will be played in the T20 format. The tournaments are scheduled to run from July 12 to 29, with the women’s medal match set for July 20 and the men’s final slated for July 29.

Cricket’s inclusion in LA 2028 marks its return to the Olympic stage after 128 years. The sport last featured at the 1900 Paris Games, where Great Britain defeated France in a one-off match to clinch the gold.

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LA 2028: ICC finalizes dates for Olympic cricket event

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the schedule for the T20 cricket events at the Los Angeles (LA) 2028 Olympics.

This will mark the sport’s first Olympic appearance in 128 years, since the lone match at the 1900 Paris Games, where Great Britain defeated France to claim gold.

The T20 events will run from July 12 to July 29, 2028, at the Pomona Fairplex, located nearly 50 kilometres from downtown Los Angeles. The women’s medal match is slated for July 20, followed by the men’s final on July 29.

Each competition will feature six teams, with 90 athlete slots allocated per gender, allowing nations to field full 15-player squads.

In an interesting format twist, the group stage will see each team play two sides from the opposite pool, excluding the team that finished in the same position.

For instance, Group A toppers will face the second and third-placed teams in Group B, and vice versa. All match results will count toward the overall standings.

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The top two teams will advance to the LA 2028 Olympics cricket final to contest for gold and silver, while the third- and fourth-placed sides will play off for the bronze medal.

Most matchdays will feature double-headers, with games scheduled to begin at 9:00 AM and 6:30 PM local time.

The return of cricket to the Olympics is seen as a major opportunity to boost the game’s global footprint, particularly in non-traditional markets like the USA.

While the qualification criteria remain unconfirmed, the ICC is expected to finalise the process at its Annual Conference in Singapore later this week.

It is widely expected that the T20I rankings at a set cut-off date will be used to determine participating teams.

Meanwhile, organisers LA28 stated that the full competition schedule, including the gender sequence for medal events, will be revealed later this year.

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Los Angeles Olympics 2028 may feature Great Britain cricket team

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is currently in talks with Cricket Scotland to potentially form a unified cricket team named Great Britain for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, as reported by ESPN Cricinfo.

Cricket is set to make a comeback as one of the five new sports at the upcoming Los Angeles Olympics, as confirmed by organizers in October last year.

This marks a significant return for the Gentlemen’s Game, which was last seen at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris over a century ago.

The number of teams and qualification criteria for the Los Angeles Games are yet to be revealed, however, if qualified, England intends to play as the Great Britain cricket team.

The ECB aims to uphold the practice of athletes hailing from the United Kingdom, which includes Northern Ireland, participating in the Olympic Games as part of the Great Britain team, commonly referred to as Team GB.

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“With the Los Angeles Olympics four years away, it’s very early stages, but we’re talking to Team GB and Cricket Scotland about the next steps we need to take,” an ECB spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo.

“Once again Great Britain’s Olympians have captured the national imagination with their exploits in Paris this year, and we look forward to working together to compete when cricket returns to the Olympic stage in 2028.

“Along with England and Wales hosting Women’s and Men’s [T20] World Cups in 2026 and 2030, it’s another great opportunity to grow the game and inspire more people to develop a love for cricket.”

Andy Anson, the Chief Executive of the British Olympic Association has shared that in many sports England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland play under the Great Britain name and cricket may follow suit in Los Angeles Olympics 2028.

“We’ve got good experience in golf, in rugby and in women’s football, of how the Four Nations [England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland] can come together and nominate one country to be the main governing body and work with the other countries. So I think cricket will be the same,” said Anson.

“The ECB will be at the centre of that. They’ll have to work with Cricket Scotland to make sure that happens properly. We will help them sign agreements to come together and create a single national governing body, as we have done in those other sports.”

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IOC confirms cricket as one of five new sports at 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

Cricket will feature as one of five new sports at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, organisers announced Monday.

A vote of the International Olympic Committee’s session in Mumbai approved cricket, together with baseball/softball, flag football, squash and lacrosse.

The IOC’s executive board last week accepted a proposal by organisers for Twenty20 cricket, the sport’s shortest format, to be included along with the four other new events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

But the final choice still had to be voted on Monday at the IOC session in Mumbai, one of the global centres for cricket, as India hosts the men’s 50-over Cricket World Cup.

Los Angeles chiefs have proposed a six-team cricket event in Olympics, in both men’s and women’s T20 cricket.

The United States is set to field sides as the host nation, but no firm decision has been made on the number of teams, or how they will qualify.

Cricket last featured at the 1900 Paris Olympics, when a team from Britain beat a side representing France.

Adding cricket to the Olympic programme is an obvious move, financially speaking.

It would tap into the lucrative South Asian market, attracting fans in countries such as India and Pakistan.

The Indian Premier League, featuring cricket’s global stars, has helped India become the unquestioned economic driving force of the sport, thanks to legions of fans and lucrative broadcasting deals in a nation where the game is almost a religion.

Meanwhile, Major League Cricket, a professional Twenty20 League, launched in the United States in July.

“It’s a win-win situation,” International Cricket Council chairman Greg Barclay told reporters in Mumbai of cricket’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“It’s a massive day for cricket,” the New Zealander added.

“We’ve got global sport, what I think is the fastest-growing global sport, but getting onto the biggest sporting stage in the world, the Olympics, is a massive shot in the arm for the game.”

But the IOC said Monday the status of boxing at the 2028 Games remains “on hold” after it stripped the International Boxing Association (IBA) of its recognition following a dispute over how the sport is governed.

Boxing has been part of every Olympics since 1920 and will feature at next year’s Paris Games.

But in June, the IBA was effectively expelled from the Olympic movement following a bitter dispute between Games chiefs and its Russian president, Umar Kremlev.

That move came following concerns over the credibility of IBA-sanctioned tournaments, as well as the boxing governing body’s finances and governance.

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Los Angeles Olympics 2028 ‘very likely’ to feature T20 Cricket

Los Angeles Olympics 2028 is ‘very likely’ to mark the return of Cricket as a five-team T20 competition is under consideration for the biggest sporting event, British daily newspaper The Times reported on Tuesday.

In a bid to open up a potentially lucrative commercial market in the Asian subcontinent, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is deliberate to include men’s and women’s Twenty20 competitions – with gold medals at stake – in the Los Angeles Olympics 2028.

Given cricket’s widespread popularity in countries like India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, IOC President Thomas Bach is reportedly a huge supporter of its inclusion in the Olympics.

The three nations are not dominant forces in the Olympic games but cricket’s inclusion will attract massive viewership of the tournament in 2028.

The current proposal calls for a men’s and women’s competition with five teams each, with qualifying based on the world rankings of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Los Angeles Olympics 2028 will be the first to feature cricket since a one-off gold medal match in the 1900 Games in Paris.

Notably, cricket is one of the nine shortlisted sports for the upcoming Los Angeles Olympics 2028, besides baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, break dancing, karate, kickboxing, squash and motorsport.

However, a massive roadblock still lies in cricket’s Olympic return after 128 years as the organizers of the game have subjected the move to the addition of Flag Football – a non-contact version of American football.

It is worth mentioning here that T20 cricket has had somewhat of a test run at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with an eight-team women’s tournament.

Australia claimed the gold medal in the competition with a dominant nine-run victory over India. Whereas, New Zealand won bronze after thrashing England by eight wickets.

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