Cricket Ireland has welcomed its successful admission as an Associate Member of the Olympic Federation of Ireland – the move follows an earlier approval by the International Olympic Federation (IOC) to incorporate T20 cricket as an Olympic Sport from 2028 onwards.
At an event in Dublin last night, Cricket Ireland was one of four sporting bodies which were recognised as Associate Members – Cricket Ireland, Irish Squash, Ireland Lacrosse, and American Football Ireland will be sports on the programme for the Summer Olympics in LA 2028. There are now 47 Member Federations affiliated to the OFI.
Warren Deutrom, CEO of Cricket Ireland, said:
“We’re delighted to officially join the Olympic Family and would like to thank Sarah Keane, Peter Sherrard and the team at the Olympic Federation of Ireland for being so welcoming. We already work closely with a number of our counterparts in sports that have been part of the Olympic movement for much longer, and we very much look forward to being an active contributor to the OFI.
“As the world’s second largest sport, cricket was an obvious inclusion in the Games to help grow global engagement, and the T20 format is ideally suited to the schedule within which the Olympics operates. I have no doubt that cricket will be a hit, no pun intended, and we wish the three other sports here tonight well in their pursuit of Olympic glory.”