Cricket, flag football among 5 sports added to 2028 Olympics

Cricket has once again become an Olympic sport. Flag football enters for the first time.

Five sports were finally added to the Los Angeles 2028 Games by the International Olympic Committee on Monday, with baseball-softball, lacrosse and squash also confirmed for the schedule.

The list of sports cleared a final hurdle to full membership by the Olympic body at a meeting in Mumbai, India, after being proposed by Los Angeles officials a week ago and recommended by the commission Executive Committee of the IOC on Friday.

All five were voted on as a bloc with two “no” votes from around 90 IOC members in the room.

“We want Los Angeles 2028 to have the same springboard effect for our five sports,” Casey Wasserman, president of the Los Angeles organizing committee, told IOC members. “In Los Angeles, we are dreamers and doers”

The decision to elevate cricket to Olympic status for the first time since 1900 was made at one of the sport’s hotspots where the IOC meets as India hosts the sport’s World Cup.

The addition of cricket to the Olympic program is expected to increase the value of India’s broadcast rights to the IOC by more than $100 million. The men’s and women’s Olympic tournaments are each expected to feature six teams playing the shortened and dynamic Twenty20 format.

“The innings has just begun and we can’t wait to see where this incredible journey takes us,” said International Cricket Council president Greg Barclay.

Flag football and baseball-softball could propel NFL and MLB players onto the Olympic stage within five years.

Football in its full-contact form was a demonstration sport at the 1932 Olympics, when Los Angeles first hosted the Summer Games.

“The NFL is committed to working together to strengthen flag football’s place in the Olympic movement for the long term,” league commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.

Lacrosse has been hailed as the first game played on the American continent by its inhabitants. The sport has been played twice in the Olympics, but not since 1908. In Los Angeles, lacrosse will be played in a six-man format.

Squash will make its debut after several previous bids for Olympic status failed.

There was no room for breakdancing, which will not return after making its Olympic debut in Paris next year.

The importance of team sports in American culture and building stronger ties with professional leagues and tours were emphasized to IOC members ahead of their vote.

Two African members, Tidjane Thiam of Ivory Coast and William Blick of Uganda, expressed concern that the sports added on Monday are not widely practiced on the continent.

Los Angeles athletic director Niccolò Campriani told them that flag football was “the future and the tip of the spear for the international growth of American football.”

Regarding the issue of immigration to the United States, Los Angeles officials were asked to provide assurances that athletes of all passports and nationalities would be allowed to participate in the Summer Games.

“That’s our commitment,” Wasserman said, citing discussions with state and federal officials. “We are proud of our ability to ensure our country is accessible to every athlete on the planet.”

Opening the presentation in Los Angeles, Wasserman directly addressed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the war between Israel and Hamas in language that pushed the boundaries of the IOC’s preferred stance of political neutrality.

Noting that previous generations of his own family fled Ukraine to the United States “because of pogroms that wiped out most of the Jewish population,” he said people there are now “facing a path unfathomable without us” during the war led by Russia.

“There are no words to fully express the devastation and shock caused by the October 7 massacre in Israel,” Wasserman added. “I stand unequivocally in solidarity with Israel, but let me be clear, I also stand with the innocent civilians of Gaza who did not choose this war.”

He called on the Olympics to “show what is possible when we understand our differences and meet the challenges of our time with respect and dignity.” We look forward to welcoming, respecting and celebrating all the athletes and people of the world when the games take place in Los Angeles in 2028.”

Wasserman was reprimanded by the first IOC member to respond, Syed Shahid Ali of Pakistan, who said “the political content tended to overshadow the sports part” of the Los Angeles presentation.

But Wasserman was supported by French IOC member Guy Drut, who participated in the 1972 Munich Olympics, where 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were killed after Palestinian gunmen attacked the athletes’ village. Drut lamented “the loss of our brothers in Israel.”

In a separate vote, IOC members confirmed that weightlifting and modern pentathlon would retain their Olympic places. Weightlifting has come under scrutiny due to doping concerns, while modern pentathlon has replaced the vaulting element with obstacle courses.

Boxing is sure to be on the program in Los Angeles but the sport currently lacks a governing body recognized by the IOC.