Dubai, February 12: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has provided full recognition to International Cricket Council. The executive board of the IOC, which met in Vancouver on Thursday, has granted the recognition which will enable cricket to take part in IOC events.
The ICC has been striving toward including cricket as an Olympic sport by 2020.
In an exclusive interview to Gulf News, Haroon Lorgat, the Chief Executive of the ICC, had said: “We have the format to represent ourselves in the Olympics. In the past there were concerns that cricket is played over a longer period and, therefore, cannot be viable in the Olympics. This has changed totally following the introduction of the Twenty20 format. The first job was to basically get recognition from the IOC.”
Incidentally, Dubai has also been conducting a feasibility study to stage the 2020 Olympic Games following a decree from Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Commenting on the IOC’s decision, Lorgat said: “The ICC is extremely proud of the recognition given to our great sport by the IOC which we always considered to be our first step in becoming a part of the Olympic family.”
However, Lorgat made it clear that “at this stage no consideration or decision has been made regarding participation or applying for approval to participate in the Olympic Games.”
Lorgat also revealed that as a first step cricket would be played at the 2010 Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou in China. UAE has qualified to play in the Asian Games following the Asian Cricket Council Twenty20 qualifiers held here last year.
Incidentally, cricket was part of the 1900 Olympics in Paris and has never appeared again.
–Agencies