Cricket, breakdancing, seven other sports still waiting for word on 2028 Los Angeles Olympic status

The candidates for new sports are cricket, baseball-softball, flag football, lacrosse, breaking, karate, kickboxing, squash and motorsports. bPhoto / Photosport

Cricket, breakdancing and flag football are still waiting to find out if they will be added to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The process to add sports that organisers in Los Angeles want at the 2028 Games was unexpectedly delayed Wednesday by the International Olympic Committee.

The IOC cited “ongoing discussions” with L.A. officials as the issue — a clear rift between the two sides — despite the timetable being known for years and only two days before a key meeting to let nine candidate sports know which is set to get Olympic status.

As a result, the IOC-appointed panel studying sports program changes “has not yet had the opportunity to hold its meeting to prepare its final recommendation.”

On Friday, the Olympic body’s executive board was scheduled to recommend which of the nine sports would join the core events. The candidates are cricket, baseball-softball, flag football, lacrosse, breaking, karate, kickboxing, squash and motorsports.

The IOC board also was scheduled to give clarity on the uncertain Olympic futures for boxing, modern pentathlon and weightlifting beyond their appearances at the 2024 Paris Games. Although the final decision rests with the IOC members, who will meet from Oct. 15-17 in Mumbai, India, that would typically be a formality to rubber stamp the board’s position.

India has long seemed the ideal setting to bring cricket — in its shortened T20 format — back to the Olympics for the first time since its only appearance at the 1900 Paris Games. An India-Pakistan cricket match at the Olympics could deliver the biggest global television audience of any event.

Breaking, the official name of breakdancing, is likely to be retained in 2028 ahead of its widely anticipated debut in Paris next year.

The IOC gave no new timetable Wednesday for decisions, saying that “the sports program for the Olympic Games LA28 will be discussed during a later IOC (board) meeting, to take place at a date to be decided.”