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Flag football, baseball, softball, cricket, lacrosse, squash added to 2028 Olympics

Los Angeles 2028 Olympics

LA28

Flag football, baseball, softball, cricket, lacrosse and squash were added to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic program by IOC members vote Monday.

Just two IOC members — out of dozens in attendance at a meeting in Mumbai — voted against the proposal by a show of hands.

The proposed sports were announced by LA 2028 organizers last Monday and backed by the IOC Executive Board on Friday.

Flag football and squash make their Olympic debuts as medal sports. Returning to the program are baseball (previously a medal sport from 1992-2008 and in Tokyo), softball (1996-2008 and in Tokyo), cricket (1900) and lacrosse (1904, 1908).

More detail on each sport is here.

Recent IOC reforms allow Olympic hosts to propose adding sports solely for their edition of the Games.

So the added sports are not on the Olympic program beyond 2028, but could be added for 2032 and beyond in future votes.

Cricket will be held in its shorter T20 format. Lacrosse will be a sixes competition.

Beyond that, details for each sport have not been announced.

It has not been announced whether NFL or MLB players will be eligible for the Olympics.

The NFL helped lead the push for flag football’s Olympic inclusion. NFL players did not take part in the July 2022 World Games held in Birmingham, Alabama.

Active MLB players have never participated in the Olympics, which always take place during the MLB season.