Cricket moves closer to Olympics, gets IOC approval

By Rahul Bajaj
for Cricketain.com

Published: February 15, 2010

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Vancouver: Cricket took a major stride towards the Olympics as the International Olympics Committee (IOC) gave official recognition to the International Cricket Council (ICC), which means that cricket’s governing body can now bid for a spot in future Olympics.

Cricket, power boating and sports climbing became the latest sports to be officially recognised by the IOC, a status necessary before launching a bid to become part of the Olympic programme.

“The session gave definite recognition to the three federations,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams told reporters. “They are recognised federations by us, which now means that they can take part in IOC events.”

The three sports can now bid to join the 2020 Olympics as the programme is always determined seven years in advance. Golf and rugby were latest inclusions in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games when an IOC session voted them in last year.

The decision about new sports to be included for the 2020 Games will be taken at the IOC session in Buenos Aires in 2013 where the host country will also be picked.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) expressed happiness at the recognition and said it is extremely proud of the recognition given to it by the International Olympic Council (IOC).The IOC in Vancouver approved its executive board’s decision to convert its provisional’ recognition to full recognition’.

Applauding the move, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said, “The ICC is extremely proud of the recognition given to our great sport by the IOC, which we always considered our first step in becoming a part of the Olympic family. At this stage, no consideration or decision has been made regarding participation or applying for approval to participate in the Olympic Games.”

Cricket was given the provisional status of “recognition” as an Olympic sport in 2007, for a term of two years, as a sport not in the Olympic programme but which can conform to criteria such as universality.

Cricket’s Twenty20 format is set to feature at this year’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, and has been in the Commonwealth Games as recently as 1998.

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