Cricket in the Olympics 2028: ICC proposes a 6-team T20 competition for men and women

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Vishwajeet Jaiswal
Hey, I’m Vishwajeet Jaiswal! Ever since I was a kid, I loved sharing the latest news with my friends. What started as a childhood habit has...
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The International Cricket Council (ICC) has advised the Los Angeles Olympic Games organising committee (LA28) to hold six-team T20 competitions for both men and women in an effort to bring cricket to the major international sporting events.

In the midst of speculation that cricket may once again be overlooked for inclusion in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, Media has learned that no decision has yet been made and that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will make a final determination in October after the LA28 organisers have finalised the list of new sports by March.

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These will then be approved at the International Olympic Committee session in Mumbai, which is expected to take place in or around October of this year.

If the plan is approved, the six competing teams will most likely be the top six in the ICC men’s and women’s T20 rankings on a cut-off date.

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According to reports, the ICC is currently brainstorming ideas with the LA28 organisers before deciding on a tournament format.

T20 was proposed as the format because LA28 and the IOC both informed the ICC that the format should include a world championship (which would exclude T10, for example), be short in duration (which would exclude ODIs), and have a significant amount of spectator engagement.

The primary reason for the ICC’s recommendation of six-team events is the IOC’s effort to become more cost-effective, which it has outlined as part of its strategic plan titled ‘Olympic Agenda 2020 5’. It has been determined that the best way to cut costs is to reduce inflated team sizes across disciplines as well as overall contingents. As a result, the number of athletes competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics will be 10,500, down from 11,300 in the 2021 Tokyo Games.

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The 2020 5 strategic plan, which supports a number of high-profile events, including LA28, includes cost-cutting “opportunities,” and the IOC has emphasised “developing the event-based programme with a main focus on simplifying the venue master plan, and decreasing cost and complexity in each sport.”

Furthermore, LA28 informed the ICC that the magnitude of the proposed competition could not be compromised and that only the best athletes should compete. This also influenced the decision to limit participation in the planned event to the top six teams from both the male and female genders.

The ICC’s Olympic working group, led by Greg Barclay (ICC chairman), includes former USA Cricket president Paraag Marathe, Indra Nooyi, and BCCI secretary Jay Shah.

Shah’s appointment, who chairs the finance and commercial affairs committee and represents the BCCI on the ICC board, is a calculated move.

Given India’s desire to host the Olympics in the near future, the International Olympic Committee has identified the country as a major market. And the ICC believes Shah’s presence will provide a significant and potentially powerful push in its negotiations with the IOC for cricket to be featured at the sport’s largest global event.

Also Read: Who is the Godfather or Baap of IPL And Why?

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Hey, I’m Vishwajeet Jaiswal! Ever since I was a kid, I loved sharing the latest news with my friends. What started as a childhood habit has turned into a passion, and now I have the privilege of sharing news, stories about Sports, Tech, and iGaming content with SEO best practises. Writing has always been a part of who I am, and it’s something I’m truly passionate about.