After a long wait, cricket is set to return to the Olympic Games. In the upcoming Los Angeles Olympics, both men’s and women’s events will feature six teams each, with a total of 28 matches to be played. These details were confirmed by the ICC after a meeting in Dubai.
ICC Chief Executive Sanjay Gupta said, “Inclusion in the Olympics is a major milestone for us. It will increase access to government funding, which will greatly help in development and infrastructure investment.”
He added, “If cricket continues to be included in multi-sport events such as the Asian Games, Pan-American Games, and African Games, it will gain popularity in new regions. This will also boost investment in high-performance and grassroots levels.”
In the Los Angeles Olympics, five of the six teams will come from the top countries across five continental regions — Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania. The host nation will qualify directly from its region, while the remaining team will be decided through a qualifying tournament.
According to ICC rankings, the men’s teams expected to qualify directly are India (Asia), Australia (Oceania), England (Europe), South Africa (Africa), and the United States (Americas and host nation).
Teams like New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and West Indies are likely to compete in the qualifiers, from which the best-performing team will earn a spot in the main Olympic event.
