In the 141st Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), several sports were officially added to the roster for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. These sports include men's and women's T20 cricket, squash, baseball/softball, flag football, and lacrosse (sixes).
Cricket's inclusion in the Olympics will be in the T20 format. The vote to include cricket in the 2028 Olympics took place in Mumbai, where the majority of IOC members supported the idea, with only two members opposing it.
Virat Kohli, the iconic Indian cricketer, emerged as a central figure in this campaign. The organisers of the Los Angeles Olympics recognized Kohli's massive influence, considering him an ironclad asset.
During his presentation to the IOC, Niccolo Campriani, the Olympic champion shooter from Italy and the sports director at LA28, highlighted the immense popularity of Indian superstar Virat Kohli. Kohli boasts an astonishing 370 million followers on social media (X, Facebook and Instagram) and ranks third among the most-followed athletes worldwide.
‘’My friend here, Virat is the third-most followed athlete in the world on social media with 340m followers. That's more than Lebron James, Tom Brady and Tiger Woods combined,” Campriani said.
“This is an ultimate win-win for the 28th IOC and the cricket community as cricket will be showcased on the global stage to go beyond the traditional cricket countries,’’ he added.
This massive fan base far surpasses even America's sports superstars like LeBron James, Tom Brady, and Tiger Woods, providing a compelling argument in favour of cricket's inclusion.
However, a looming question remains - will Kohli be a part of the cricketing action in the 2028 Olympics? With five years left until the Los Angeles Olympics, it is uncertain whether Kohli will still be playing the game.
The LA28 Organizing Committee submitted the list of five new sports after the decision was made following assessments by the Olympic Programme Commission (OPC) and Executive Board (EB) of the IOC.