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Cricket gets Olympic approval
Twenty20's push to be part of the 2020
Olympics has received a major fillip with news that the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) has voted to have the International Cricket
Council (ICC) approved. However, while cricket - along with power
boating sport climbing - can now bid to join the 2020 games the ICC
currently has no imminent plans to have the format included.
"They are recognised
federations by us, which now means that they can take part in IOC
events," said IOC director of communications Mark Adams during a meeting
in Vancouver ahead of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Cricket received
Olympic "recognition status" in 2007 and faces a stiff battle from other
sports, such as golf, karate and baseball, to become part of the
programme. The ICC has also been wary of pushing for Twenty20 at the
2020 games. David Morgan, the ICC president, had visited Beijing to meet
with IOC officials in 2008, while cautioning the sport to think
carefully about a push for a spot at the Olympics.
One of the game's
more outspoken advocates of taking cricket - in specific Twenty20 - has
been Adam Gilchrist, who at last year's Cowdrey Lecture at Lord's pushed
for the game to be included in the 2020 games. The proposal has also
received backing from Steve Waugh, Stephen Fleming, Kumar Sangakkara,
Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh.
Cricket was part of
the 1900 Olympics in Paris and has not appeared since, but will feature
at this year's Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
Cricinfo |
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