IOC President Thomas Bach explains cricket's absence from Olympics for more than a century
Oct 16, 2023
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 16 : International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach talked about the reason why it took more than a century to include cricket in the Olympics.
Cricket made its sole appearance in the 1900 Olympics in Paris when Great Britain claimed the gold medal by defeating France.
During a press conference, Bach was quizzed about the absence of cricket from the Olympics for such a long time to which he replied, "I cannot speak about 50 years before but what I can see, what we all can see is the great development of cricket and we have also always been made aware of this not only great development of cricket in India but beyond by our IOC members in India, Nita Ambani had given good advice we have seen figures developing and then we had discussions with the organising committee of LA so everything came together."
"The most important argument is that we have seen the growing international importance of cricket. The Olympic Games wanted to incorporate the most popular sports worldwide. Therefore, this proposal was very welcome," Bach added.
Earlier on Monday, the IOC announced that cricket will be a part of the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028 and will make its return after 128 years to the multi-sport extravaganza.
Two IOC members opposed the proposal and one abstained from voting.
"The proposal from the Organising Committee of the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (@LA28 to include five new sports in the programme has been accepted by the IOC Session. Baseball/softball, cricket (T20), flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash will be in the programme at LA28. #IOCMumbai2023," tweeted IOC Media.
The IOC session in Mumbai was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. The session serves as a key meeting of the members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Important decisions regarding the future of the Olympic games are made at the IOC Sessions. India is hosting the IOC session for the second time and after a gap of about 40 years. The IOC's 86th session was held in New Delhi in 1983.
